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The Best of Kids’ Standard 2018-2019
Motivate. Activate. Celebrate.
F E AT U R E
Index: Feature..................................................2 Editorial Calendar...............................3 Best Commentary Essays ..................4 Best Opinion Essays ..........................7 Best Informational Essays ...............10 Best Reflective Essays ......................12 Best Persuasive Essays ....................16 Best Creative Fiction ........................18 Best Realistic Fiction ........................21 Best Narratives..................................23 Best Literary Reviews.......................26 Best in Poetry ....................................27 Parent’s Corner..................................30 Financial Literacy..............................31 Volunteer opportunity is available for students and adults. Contact us info@kidsstandard.com Let us know if your school wants to partner with us. Follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/kidsstandard Like us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/kidsstandard 248-410-3976 © Copyright Kids Standard Publication Inc, Michigan. All Rights Reserved
Dear Readers and Writers,
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eptember 2019 marks Kids Standard’s 5th year of making a difference for our schools and communities. We can proudly claim solid partnerships with a number of Oakland County school districts, aspiring writing and civic programs and camps, and a growing base of professionals-volunteers, who make our publication possible. Still, our main focus is and has always been on developing published writers. When our writers choose to share their ideas and creativity in our magazine, they go through an authentic writing process with the goal to share something important with another person, whom they might never meet. Informational writing offers new interesting information. Narrative writing tells a story of a real experience that carries an important lesson. Poetry touches our hearts. Opinion and argument pieces, along with providing information, are aimed to make people think about their own position on a specific issue. Reflective and commentary essays often bring to readers’ attention unexpected connections and perspectives that enrich
Arina Bokas
Kids’ Standard Editor & Author of Building Powerful Learning Environments: From Schools to Communities
their view of the world around them. As it has become our tradition, in every September issue we showcase the best work that was published in our magazine during the previous school year. We are happy to present “The Best of Kids Standard 2018-2019.” Happy reading and learning!
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E D I TO R I A L C A L E N DA R
Motivate. Activate. Celebrate September 2019
The Best of Kids Standard 2019-2020
October 2019
Role Models A role model is a person who serves as an example by influencing others. Role models influence our decisions and actions and shape us into who we are. Why is having good role models important? Who are your positive role models? Reflect on how role models help us uncover our true potential and overcome our weakness. Write about your personal experiences and people in your life, who serve as your role models. Research and write about famous people, who could be considered good role models for everyone. What can we learn from these people?
November 2019
The Value of Grit Life is full of up and downs. It is very easy to give up on something when things get hard. That’s why to be successful in life one needs to develop grit. Grit can be defined as one’s ability to accomplish long term goals despite the obstacles and no matter how long it may take. Reflect on the value that grit has in our life and how failure can help develop grit and perseverance. Write about your personal experiences accomplishing something after multiple tries. What life lessons did you learn through these experiences? Think about how failure and grit are connected with each other. Share stories of inventions that took years to develop. Research famous people, whose life accomplishments resulted in from their grit and perseverance.
December 2019
Global Problem Solving A lot of problems in the world today
SEPTEMBER 2019
2019-2020 Editorial Calendar
spread across many countries, time zones, and technologies. Offer your thoughts on what global issues require immediate attention. Why is it important to solve these problems and why is it difficult at times to solve them? Research important global issues and what is being done to solve them. Write about school or life experiences that helped you become aware of global problems and understand people from other countries. Is there one problem that you would like to solve? Why so? Do you have a perspective on a world problem that you would like to share?
January 2020
I Have a Dream Dreaming for big goals is very important. Some dreams may even change the course of your entire life. They motivate, inspire, and help you in achieving your goals. Is doing something makes your eyes spark and heart beat faster? Is there something that you can do forever and hardly notice the time? What is your dream? How does it help you in life? How does having this dream help your connections with other people? What personal qualities and traits does it help you develop?
February 2020
Travel through Space Space can be a wondrous place. What would life be like if we were able to move between solar systems and galaxies like we currently travel between countries and continents? Would life for children be similar to our today, or would it be drastically different? Offer your perspective on whether there is life out there. Research the different types of stars to figure out which one might support life. Research the definition of planets and examine them. Write about astronomers
and their inventions. Address current space-related issues and their potential solutions.
March 2020
My America We all have our own America – places that we love to visit, customs that we like to follow, and beliefs that we share. What is your America? Share what you like about the country and which places are important to you. Write about America’s geography, culture, history, events, and issues. Research and write about important people who had a big impact on this country. Offer your perspective on anything related to our country’s past, present, and future
April 2020
Life in Motion Any regular physical activity can relieve stress, anxiety, depression, and anger. What are other benefits of being active? What gets you up and moving? Write about your favorite physical activity, sport, dance, or fitness routine. Why is it important to you? How does it make you feel? Share stories of athletes, dancers, and other people whose lives revolve around motion.
May 2020
Creators and Makers What is creativity? How can a creative mindset be developed? Do you consider yourself a creative person? Write about various activities that help you be creative. Why do you enjoy them? What do you learn through them? Research various inventors and creators in any industry and offer your perspective on what helped them succeed in creating something important.
June 2020
Michigan Youth Project Issue
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B E S T C O M M E N TA R Y E S S A Y S
Murals For Happiness
By: Brandon Hoffmann, 5th grade, Springfield Plains Elementary Clarkston
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ave you ever seen a mural in your community? If so, I bet you liked it, and you probably
wished there were more of them. If murals were everywhere you went, it would make you happy. Murals make cities brighter, people happier, and as a result, more people will want to come to that city. First, murals will make the city
Writing in Everyday Life By: Sarah Lavallee, 4th grade, Woodland Elementary, Troy
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riting... This is too complex of a subject to cover all of the reasons why it is so important in life. From getting a job, to creating warning signs, instructions, or movie scripts, to communicating and sharing information, writing is a necessary part of our everyday being. And some people just write for the pleasure of writing. You might ask, why is writing important for a good job? First, even to get a
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job, you have to write a resume. Then, you have to write in almost every job you have. For example, if you are an accountant, you need to write down numbers. If you are a store owner, then you have to write down how much everybody gets paid, what to buy, and what to sell. Writing is also very important for our safety. Without warning signs, we could walk into poisoned waters, step on sharp rocks, and get ourselves into very dangerous things. Do you have a favorite book? An
brighter. Many walls are plain and boring, especially if there is not much to the architecture. If there were murals there, they won't be so boring. My art teacher created two murals in downtown Clarkston, and every time I walk past them, I feel like my town is brighter. Second, murals do make people happier. They elevate mood. If you have ever walked by a mural, you would know it. If there were more murals, they could make you even happier! When I went to New Orleans, I saw a mural of a giant clarinet, and it made me feel happy inside. If there were murals like this in more cities, it would make a lot more people happy. Last, murals are art, and art always makes more people want to come and see it. If there were really good murals in a city, it would make more people come to that city to see them. For example, on the back of The Fed in downtown Clarkston, there’s a mural. It makes people go behind The Fed just to see it. Murals can make our world brighter and people happier. They make me happy inside.
author wrote it because of his or her pleasure of writing. Then, an editor had to write down comments and ideas for improvement. They had to write down instructions for an illustrator and a publisher. Without instructions, no one would know what to draw or how many copies to print.. Similarly, without instructions, we wouldn't know how to put things together that come in a box, how to play a video game, or how to set up our phones and iPads. I think writing is very important. We need it on a job, for writing books, creating warning signs and instructions, making movie scripts, communicating, and for the fun of it!
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All-Around Art By: Alexa Davis, 5th grade, Stadium Drive Elementary,
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Lake Orion
like art because it expresses me and because I've been doing it since I was little. I like all types of art, including painting, music, and all-around art. I have always wanted to be an artist, since I knew what it was. My favorite artists are those who draw differently than others, because they inspire me to draw uniquely, too. Art means to be creative or show what your inner side is, because art comes from your
mind. Even if you're doing what everybody else is doing, you can still make it your own. Messing up something in art is nothing. I know it won’t look the way it is supposed to, but it's still art. The special kind of art is love. It is a kind of art, where your family can join in. Love is art that will give you a good feeling. Love is an art that helps you connect with other people. Love is a connection. Love is a family project. It’s a “masterpiece,” when you hug or when you celebrate with someone; love is when someone cares for you.
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KS After School Writing Club Helps to Develop 6 Skills Kids Standard Magazine is a publication in which youth are the primary authors! Your student is invited to attend our after school program that will give him or her an opportunity to become a published writer or artist. Over the last five years, Kids Standard has published the work of nearly 1000 Oakland County students. We have given various awards to over 800 writers. We received very positive feedback from schools, parents, and students alike. • • • •
If your child likes to write, great! Our trained staff will work with your child to improve his or her writing. If your child doesn’t like to write, great! We will make sure that this experience is fun, so your child will learn to love it. If your child doesn’t have a lot of time, great! The program is set up for just one hour weekly. This is a great vehicle for all children to become better learners, readers, writers, and communicators!
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SEPTEMBER 2019
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Embracing Wellness
By: Vanessa Veloz- Jimenez, 5th grade, Herrington Elementary, Pontiac
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he things that get me up and moving are stretching my legs early in the morning, eating fruits, and cleaning my house to help my mom with chores. I also like getting my baby brother ready so he can go to his babysitter’s house. Every day I exercise at my house and school by running, jumping, or walking. Being active is so much fun if you realize the benefits of it. My favorite physical activity is dancing. I like dancing because it makes me comfortable with my body. Being comfortable with my body makes me overcome my fears. Being comfortable with my body helps with a lot of other things, like school. I always wish I could be like everybody else, with the attitude of not caring what people think of them. Even if it were true, people need to love themselves. Dancing can be a stress reliever; if you had a bad day,
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it can help you. That’s why I love to dance. Embracing wellness is important to me because it helps me embrace the things I have. My mom helps me with everything, but she doesn’t help me when she is at work, so my sisters sometimes help me. My friends help me deal with my problems and are there for me when I’m in my sad times. Embracing wellness makes me feel happy and sad at the same time. Sometimes I like to express myself by saying what I feel inside. My friends make me smile, laugh , and feel good about myself. People like to have a popular name, but I’m the only Vanessa in my whole entire school. People always think I’m supposed to be all nice inside, but they don’t know how I really feel inside. In conclusion, I think this essay is going to be very special in some kind of way. I like writing and I think I will always like it. I like to express myself in every kind of way I can find.
Little Things Can Make A Big Difference! By: Ivana Patke, 2nd grade, Gretchko Elementary,
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West Bloomfield
ittle things can make a big difference, no matter where we are - at school, home, or other places. I do things at home that make a difference for my family. When my daddy and mommy are gone, I clean the dishes. When my grandma, grandpa, and parents are gone, too, my aunty and uncle take care of me. I make food for my aunt and uncle, when they are watching me. I teach and play games with them. They enjoy doing that with me. I give money to poor people and sometimes buy them food. Helping older people or disabled walk across the street is something that anyone can do, but it makes a difference for them. Helping others is fun! It makes you and other people feel good. www.KidsStandard.org
BEST OPINION ESSAYS
Friendship
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By: De’Andre Johnson
riends are important because they are helpful and we learn new things from each other. The relationship between my friends and me developed over the long time we have known each other. Traveon and I met in kindergarten, and
Science By: Alexander Lapka, 3rd grade, Sheiko Elementary, West Bloomfield
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cience is a large topic that covers a lot about our world and how it works. If you don’t know much about it, there is a lot to learn, and you might start liking it in a while. You can learn about the solar system, planets, magnets, technology, energy, matter, life, weather, gravity and more! Let’s get started!
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Ry-Quon and I have also known each other since kindergarten and we have become good friends. The difference between fake friends and real friends is important. Fake friends use you for money and snacks and don’t pay any attention to you. Real friends don’t
First, there is technology. Technology is needed to create such things as phones, iPads, tablets, TVs, and more. Technology is used in a lot of things. Tablets are technology. People use tablets to chat with friends and play games. Tablets are different; they have different backgrounds, different colors, different sizes. Some tablets have different cameras on them. I use an iPad to play games and have fun. Sometimes, people accidently break tablets. They might drop them. My dad once dropped my iPad on the cement. I didn't see see it happen, but when he gave it back to me, it was cracked. “Dad, why did
care if you have snacks, and they stand up by you when bullies try to intimidate you. People need friends because they don’t want to be alone. They want to have somebody to talk and share. Friends are special and can make a difference in your life.
you crack my iPad”? I asked. My dad said nothing. One month later, I saw my dad getting the stuff ready for fixing it. I was excited that my dad was going to fix it. There is technology that makes it possible to fix tablets and phones. Science is also about the life around us. Take our solar system, for example. There are many different planets in it - eight in total. The four planets closest to the sun are called inner planets. The other four planets are called outer planets. These planets are Earth, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus, and Mercury. Science is really big. There is something in it that will be of an interest to everyone!
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BEST OPINION ESSAYS
Superheroes By: Kiyan Shushtari, 3rd grade, Springfield Plains Elementary, Clarkston
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here are many different types of superheroes. You might think of superheroes in movies, like Batman or Mr. Incredible. But superheroes are not always the movie characters. Not all superheroes have cool cars, fly, beat people up, have capes and lasers, or huge muscles. Instead, they show their powers through standing up, being brave, having dignity, being patient, and so much more. Sometimes, they are just behind the scenes doing small things that make big differences, like helping others, supporting others, and being good friends. People can be superheroes by helping others. In my life, my grandma and my mom help me the most. My grandma teaches me how to speak Persian, which is my family’s native language. I think this is pretty cool to have a second language, and it helps me to be a better learner and more well-rounded. I also
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help my grandma by helping her read English, because she doesn’t understand it very well on her own. I think this makes me a hero to her just like she is a hero to me, and it makes me happy to know I can help out. My mom is also a hero to me, because she puts me and my brother before herself every single day. She helps us with our homework, makes us food, and cares for us. I think this makes her a hero, because if I didn’t have her, my life would be much different. These are some reasons why I think my grandma and my mom are heroes. Heroes can also be people in your life who support you. My parents are my biggest advocates because they always want the best for me. They always encourage me to be the best I can be at school by making me practice reading and writing and rewarding me when I do something good. I think this makes them heroes to me, because they always have it in them to make sure I am doing the best that I can and they make me feel proud when I do
something good. It is important to support the people around you, because that is the best way to help them succeed. It can make you really happy to support someone, and your actions can be reflected by others, which can help you, too. This is why being supportive makes someone a hero. Finally, a hero is a good friend. I have a lot of good friends in my life. They are heroes to me because we always have fun when we play and spend time together. It is also cool that we always have our own ideas and get to share them with each other, even though they are different. This is a good thing to have, because it teaches you how to appreciate being unique. Having good friends, who are respectful and good listeners, also teaches you how to have respect for others and be a good listener. This makes you a better person. So, a hero can be a good friend, too. As you can see, being helpful, supportive, and a good friend can make someone a superhero. You don’t have to be the type of the super hero that is in the movies that acts cool. You just have to be a good person because being a good person is the best gift you can have. Think about the superheroes in your life, and how you can take a stand for someone else.
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BEST OPINION ESSAYS
Why Technology is Important
By: William Jang, 3rd grade, Woodland Elementary, Troy
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echnology is important because it makes people’s lives easier and more enjoyable in many ways. Technology provides us with fun, creates transportation, and even helps us grow our brains.
Technology can be a lot of fun. I enjoy playing video games because they are fun to use with my family or my friends. They are fun because they are a way to entertain yourself when you’re bored. Another way games are helpful is because they can make you excited. When you are sad, you can play games to cheer yourself up.
Next, technology is necessary for human beings to move fast and far. In other words, transportation relies heavily on technology. Without technology, there would be no cars. This would mean that you would have to walk, when you need to get to various places. If you walk, it would take you a lot of time just to get somewhere. You will have to leave much earlier than usual to get to school, and if you are running late, you would have no way to catch up. This would get you in trouble with your teacher. Last, your brain could grow faster while using technology. One example is a calculator. Without a calculator, it is harder to do math. If you don’t know 12 times 12, you can just use a calculator and learn. A calculator is useful, and it helps you learn faster. There are many reasons why technology is important in our lives. In one way or the other, technology is important to everyone.
THE PROBLEM OF SPACE DEBRIS By: Mekhi Battle, 9th grade, Clarkston Junior High School
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ecently, there has been a lot of talk about space junk and the problems caused by it. ¨There are over 7500 tons of space waste¨, according to BBC, and that number is growing rapidly. The less we do to address it, the more dangerous it can be in the long run. There are places, like UNOOSA (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs), that deal with this issue, which could become extremely dangerous for the Earth. Many people think that space junk is not the most pressing issue right now in space because it could be a easy fix with the new technology. Professor Henry Hertzfeld of George Washington University, for example, directly questions this issue, ¨ Is this the most pressing issue thing in space that we should
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be worrying about?” Hertzfeld also adds that we should be worrying about other things, like launch failure and manufacturing defects, which could pose immediate problems. Space debris is a huge problem, and there are very valid pieces of evidence that support this. Agence France-Presse from Newsela argues that junk moves incredibly fast for the size. If one of those fast moving pieces runs into one of the space crafts, it could crash, hurt people, and create more space junk. Some of space junk could take out a spacecraft single handedly. “Small pieces can do damage like rifle bullets hitting metal, ” she says. If even the tiny pieces are threats to our space crafts now, imagine if we let it go and it keeps progressing into more junk to the point where it’s too dangerous for us to travel into space.
Though the space debris size and speed is a huge problem, I think what a lot of people have missed is how this could pose a problem for future space travel. For instance, the junk increases by 25%, according to Forbes, and at this rate, we will get to the point where it won’t even be safe for us to travel in space. As the orbit gets more and more crowded, we will need to get rid of satellites, which will be a huge crisis. More importantly, the things that are now in space will start coming down on us. Though space debris comes with a lot of problems, I think the solutions are very promising. UNOOSA and many countries are coming together to fix this big problem. They plan on sending clean-up rockets that will collect the garbage. As humankind, we need to take care of the junk as soon as possible, before it’s too late.
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B E S T I N F O R M AT I O N A L E S S A Y S
Nuclear Power
By: Gabe Shaw, 5th grade, Woodland Elementary, Troy
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n August 6, 1945, a U.S. B-29 dropped an atomic bomb on Japan during World War II. The damage was devastating, and those who lived in the area and didn’t die from the blast, soon died because of the radioactive energy. Afterward, the Cold War (1947 - 1991) began, with the U.S. and the Soviet Union threatening to declare nuclear war on each other. During this time, countries around the world found out that nuclear energy could also be used as a source of more than political power. Nuclear power is created when an atom is split. This gives off energy,
Ways to Stay Healthy By: Jacqueline Ng, 4th grade, Deerfield Elementary School, Rochester Hills
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here are many ways to keep healthy and get some exercising. Some ways of exercising jumping rope, playing soccer,
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which then can be transferred to our homes. However, nuclear power can be expensive, and it can cause lots of damage if a plant malfunctions. Additionally, the radioactive “nuclear waste” is buried underground, where it can harm anybody who finds it. Despite the negatives, nuclear power should be used because it is better than fossil fuels, it can run at all times, and it can help stop global warming. First of all, nuclear power is better than fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are the burning of dead matter, such as oil and coal. These things aren’t reproducible, so we will run out of them because there aren’t many fossils or coal left on our planet. Also, using fossil fuel energy can pollute, while nuclear energy doesn't.
basketball, or football, and playing playground games. Even a gym class is a time when you exercise! In gym, you stretch, jog, and then pick some games to play and vote on the games. My favorite way to keep healthy is by jumping rope. Jumping rope can get your heart beat really fast, giving it a good workout. This is good for your heart. Jumping rope is not hard, but there are some things to remember: • NEVER start off jumping with your feet on the rope.
Second, nuclear energy can run at all times in any kind of weather. Solar power can only operate when the sun is shining, and wind power operates when the wind is blowing. Nuclear power can operate at all times. Lastly, using nuclear energy can help stop global warming. January and February of 2019 had some of the coldest days on record. That happened because of global warming. As it says in its name, global warming is the process of our Earth heating up. Global warming is caused by burning dead matter to be used as fossil fuels. The more fossils are burned the warmer the Earth gets. And the hotter the Earth gets the more icebergs start to melt. Arctic animals, like the polar bears, start to die off, and cold air masses sweep across continents such as North America, causing some temperatures to drop down to -50F. If people start replacing fossil fuels with nuclear energy, the icebergs will slowly stop melting, so fewer people and animals will die. This is because nuclear plants use water as their gas stage (steam) to produce nuclear energy, so while it gives heat radiation as well, it doesn't give off as much as fossil fuels do. In conclusion, nuclear power is better than fossil fuels, operates in all weather conditions, and can help stop global warming. So encourage people around you to start using nuclear energy over other forms of power.
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Try to control the speed of the rope. Remember the beat of the rope
Sometimes you play games just for fun, not even knowing that you are exercising! For example, playing tag on the playground is a fun game that makes you run around to play, but it is also one way to exercise. Sports can be a fun way to exercise, too. I don’t know about everyone, but sports are a lot of fun for me. No matter how you exercise, it is great for your body! www.KidsStandard.org
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Malala
By: Mathea Marcale, 5th grade, Springfield Plains Elementary, Clarkston
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alala is a girl that has changed lives of thousands of girls. Malala was born on July 12, 1997 in Pakistan. Malala’s father was a teacher and ran a girls’ school in their village, Swat Valley. She loved school. But everything changed when the Taliban, an extremist islamic group, took control of the town. The extremists banned many things, including education for girls. Malala did not agree with that, and she thought that something needed to change. Malala became an advocate for girls’ education when she was still a child. The Taliban sent a death
note to Malala, but that did not stop Malala from doing her best in her school and she never gave up on her dream. She went to Edgbaston High School for Girls. Since Malala was a advocate for girls’ education, the Taliban targeted Malala, and a gunman shot her in the head. Thankfully, Malala survived that shooting and started a fund for female education. In 2014, she won the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala stood for what she believed and she succeeded. Her story inspired a lot of people, and she continues to do amazing things. Malala didn't listen to what people said; she just went with her plan and she succeeded. Malala taught me an important lesson to never give up. She inspired me more and more as I was writing this piece.
stronger. It gets me out of the house in winter. After I ski, there is nothing better than to get hot cocoa and some good food! By: Brandon French, 3rd grade, Paint Creek Elementary,
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By: Michael Jang, 3rd grade, Woodland Elementary, Troy
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kiing has impacted my life a lot. It gives me a lot of good feelings and physical activity. First reason, I love the feeling. Skiing is
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fun because you can jump. When I jump, I feel like I am flying. Sometimes, I go on a high slope, where the air pressure is strong; it’s cool when I go really high. I always feel happy and energised after I ski. Skiing helps me stay in shape. It makes me active or gets my muscle
Lake Orion
hen I think of wellness, I think of skiing. Skiing keeps me healthy because I get a lot of exercise by making big S turns down the slopes. Making big S turns requires turning legs left and right; that gives legs exercise, tires them out, and makes leg muscles stronger. That makes me feel healthy. Good skiers get ski poles, which makes arm muscles stronger, too If you go to Colorado, you might find a patch of moguls. A mogul is a round bump made in the slope; it can be sometimes icy. To go through moguls, you make small S turns all the way down the slopes. You also might find paths in the woods. They have things to jump on, but be careful not to forget to jump. Jumping builds great muscles and makes your heart exercise. 11
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BEST REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
Kindness Can Change Our World By: Ava Hennigh, 5th grade, Springfield Plains Elementary, Clarkston
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indness is one of the greatest things in the world. Kindness happens daily, whether you notice it or not, and it changes our world for the better. Some of the simple things that you can do are to smile at someone or to give someone a note with nice words on it. You could also participate in the Shoebox and Rake and Run Projects. When you show kindness, it can make someone’s day.
Smiling is one way you could show kindness. Smiling is just a small thing that changes our world for the better. If no one smiled at you, that would change how you felt throughout the day. The impact of a smile is so great that it might even make someone’s day. Smiling may seem like a small act, but it can help bring happiness to others. Another kind act is giving someone a kind note. It could boost someone's confidence just to read a note saying “thank you for helping me.” A nice note can also help people feel better if they are down. You should do
this because it can make a person’s day and it's very simple. This could spread positivity throughout the community and world. The Shoebox Project is also something that I think can spread kindness. You collect items that could go to everyday use, and they get packaged into shoeboxes and shipped to families in need of these simple, everyday necessities. This is an act of kindness that affects the world and people's lives in a positive way. The Shoebox Project brings smiles to people’s faces and really helps them; it also gives them something they need and helps them get more confident. Another act of kindness that I see in my community is the Rake and Run. People rake leaves for others, who cannot do it themselves. This act of kindness is very important and brings a relief to many elderly or disabled people. If you have the Rake and Run in your community, I would recommend signing up for it so you could see how it feels to make someone’s day. Kindness changes our world so much for the better. As you can see, there are always a few things you could do to show kindness. Kindness impacts our world positively, and if you show kindness, you are making an impact on yourself and others, creating a domino effect.
Singing Expresses Me By: Zoey Davis, 3rd grade, Stadium Drive Elementary, Lake Orion
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y favorite song is Life of The Party. I like that song because I think of myself as the life of the party. I’m flexible, I’m fun, I’m energetic, and I’m funny. I like to sing, because there are so many different moods and tones; singing just takes me away to my happy place. Singing can also help express feelings and emotions. If you’re sad, you can sing in a sad tone or sing a sad
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song, if you’re happy, you can sing in a happy-like mood. If you’re excited about something, then you might even want to create a dance to go with your song, and if you’re mad or angry, you can always show it in your voice! Sometimes, I even like to sing and dance on the couch in my living room! Sometimes, my next-door neighbor and I like to sing to songs on the radio together in the car! Once I was on my computer watching America's Got Talent videos, when I saw a video about Grace Vander Waals’ audition. Once I saw the video, I clicked on it.
I watched the whole video and thought that I wanted to be like her someday! One thing that Grace and I have in common is that we both play an instrument! She plays the ukulele, and I play the guitar! Another thing we have in common is that we both started singing very shyly, but then we both got braver and braver and more confident. We both have a big sister. There are so many cool things that you can do with your voice. You could sing in high pitch or different tones. You can sing in different moods. It's a great way to express your feelings and emotions.
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BEST REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
Math and Technology By: James Holowinski, 2nd grade, Gretchko Elementary, West Bloomfield
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ath and technology are connected to each other. Technology is not possible without math, and both can be found in all aspects of our lives. Math and technology are everywhere. At the grocery store, you will find cash machines that calculate the money you owe to the store. At the front of the plane, there are lots of buttons and switches, which help the pilot drive the plane by making calculations.
Technology drives our progress. If we didn't have technology, we wouldn’t have known about different countries and astronauts couldn’t have gotten to
Football By: Traveon Nelson
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5th grade, Herrington Elementary, Pontiac
ootball gets me up and moving because I dream about it and it wakes me up every time I am asleep. I like to play football because one day I want to be in the NFL. I would like to see my favorite NFL player, Odell Beckham Jr. He is my favorite because he can one-hand catch over players. Football makes my heart feel good every time I make a touchdown or a full return. My teammates have my back. If I’m scared or if I don’t like to get the ball and to run or catch
the ball, they will always be there for me. Football is my physical activity, because one day I can be in the NFL. I like to watch my favorite football player play. Once I had a dream that I was in the NFL, and I was the most popular. Everyone asked to be my friend, and I would say ‘yes’ and we would eat lunch together. Football is important to me because all my friends play football. One day they might get drafted into the NFL and make a lot of money. Perhaps they will form their own team. One day they might ask me to play for their team. I will gladly consider it. Football makes me feel good because I get the benefits of physical activity and doing something I enjoy with people I like.
Girls on the Run By: Kate Smith, 4th grade, Woodland Elementary, Troy
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think that Girls on the Run is a great after school activity. Running makes you physically fit. Girls on the Run helps your body and your heart; when you run, your body gets stronger and your heart gets healthier. Another reason I think that Girls on
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the moon. Thanks to technology, we can communicate with different places and learn about them. Without technology, we wouldn’t have had phones. Phones have lots of apps to help us with everyday life, such as clocks, alarms, maps, games, cameras, calculators, and lots more. Technology also helps kids learn math quicker. When kids play math games on an iPad or a computer, they have fun and learn new concepts. Many studies show that math games on electronic devices have improved kids’ math grades. There are many fun games that will help learn addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, time, money, and much more. Technology and math are very important. They help make our lives better.
the Run is a great activity is because it encourages you to make new friends. We need friends to stay emotionally healthy. There are a lot of things you do that include a partner; plus, there are a lot of other girls that are looking for friends, so there’s a pretty good chance you will find a good friend. Being part of something bigger than just yourself is also very
important for your well-being. Girls on the Run teaches you to work as a team. For example, in Girls on the Run, we say stuff like ‘there’s no I in a team’. Learning how to be a team is healthy for your brain. Think about it, if you don’t learn how to work as a team, nobody will choose you to be on their team. I think Girls on the Run is a great after school activity. It teaches you to be healthy with your body, with your emotions, and in your relationships with others.
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BEST REFLECTIVE ESSAYS
Being Brave By: Isabella Botezan, 6th grade, Avondale Middle School, Auburn Hills
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y stomach dropped. My eyes quickly read the caption of the post. I stood still in silence, as a tear streamed down my face. I wiped it away. “Mom!” I shouted. As she walked into my room, I showed her my phone. She stood there in silence, speechless as she read the words. “Just try your best to ignore her, ” mom suggested. “Okay,” I shrugged. But was ignoring her the best thing I could do? The next day at school, I walked in and saw a huddle. I sat down and I couldn't help but watch. It’s normal to think someone is talking about you, especially when you are upset. As I walked by, I heard a girl say my name. I looked behind me, and all I could hear and see was girls whispering. I felt isolated and miserable. The bell rang, and I got up and slowly walked to class. The day was very difficult. Every time I saw her, I would freeze up like cement and start shaking. Relax Isabella, relax. For the entire day, all I could think about was my friends standing there and listening to the gossip. Were they even my real friends!? I felt betrayed and baffled. As I walked in the hallway, I felt like a lot more people were watching me. I absolutely hate it when people talk about me. I felt worried that all those people believed things about me that weren't true. I started to feel very angry. I can't let someone just walk over me like that. So, I started thinking. I sat in class for a while and, finally, the lightbulb in my head lit up! I had no choice; I had to be brave and stand up for myself. After class, I made my way to her locker and came face to face with her. I could tell she was mortified. She couldn't
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even look me in the eye. “Hey, I’m not here to attack you; I just want to say something.” I announced. “I don’t appreciate you posting about me or talking about me,” I expressed in a nice calm way. “I would like you to stop,” I stated, still keeping my eyes right on her face. To my surprise, she said nothing. She took a glance at me and walked away. As I made my way to my locker, I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was so proud of myself! I
walked to my sixth hour dignified. When I came home, I checked her account. She deleted the video! And I smiled proudly. I stood up for myself in a nice way, but I was still firm. I have learned an important lesson from this experience. If something is bothering you, you don't have to create drama or become overconfident and fight someone. It is simple: you just have to stay polite and let the person know. From now on, I will always stand up for myself!
Visit flipspotgym.com for more info "Bring in this ad to save $10.00 off first month's tuition for new students."
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Choices and Tradeoffs By: Adam Walsh, 9th grade, Clarkston Junior High School,
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Clarkston
ife is full of choices. These choices in some way shape or form compulsory to how a person lives. Chances are abundant, but there is a more specific form of a choice, which can be easier to understand. This form of a choice is called a tradeoff. Tradeoffs are more specific choices, which are usually much more significant than the many other arbitrary choices, since something major is usually lost or gained. Many times, these tradeoffs are the pivotal points in people’s lives and even decide the fate of their lives for the future. If you give up the wrong aspect of your life, it will start the spiral of destruction, which will rampage through the other decisions in your life, messing up the entire system. On the other hand, making a correct tradeoff might turn your life around, giving you peace and prosperity for the rest of your existence. Of course, many tradeoffs are not this significant, but you never truly know until the opportunity has passed, and the decision has been made. This story may not seem like such a big deal, but one decision leads to many others, and may define the outcome for much more than just me alone. I was very excited, since I had my second tennis tournament of the year. I had been lagging behind my peers in tournaments. It started at 6:15pm, so I had some time to go to a robotics meeting (RUSH), even though it was a short notice. I had been playing tennis for four years and was on the varsity team for that season. Tennis was the one activity, which connected me to other people, and my first friends were from the year SEPTEMBER 2019
of tennis that I had played. RUSH was also important to me though. Over the course of the summer and school year, my love for RUSH had grown a lot. The person who planned the meeting, and ultimately ran the entirety of RUSH, was a teacher named Mrs. Hughes. Mrs. Hughes was a woman who had a relatively average height, curly gray hair which reached her neck, piercing blue eyes, and a wiser demeanor. She had just had a surgery on her shoulder so we were surprised when she called a mandatory meeting. When I saw the email, my stomach started constricting with an almost nauseous feeling, accompanied by the vertigo. I knew that an unexpected mandatory meeting was never a good thing. My nervousness was lifted a bit when I started talking to some of my closest friends in RUSH, Parker and Izzy. “I think that we were just called here to have a recap with the whole team, since our last meeting got canceled,” Parker said trying to cheer me up. Something still felt wrong. Something still unnerved me. “Do you think that Mrs. Hughes has a problem with us?” I asked in an even less confident tone as I gestured to my other classmates. “Weren’t the captains talking about the participation of RUSH?” The longer these thoughts were in my head the more adrenaline entered my blood, which caused my heart to pump harder and harder. When Mrs. Hughes came in, I could instantly see that she was unhappy. It could have been the slight difference in her facial features, or the different look she gave all of her students, inspecting each and every one of them. That one look made chills shiver down my spine, which spread to the rest of my body. It was as if she infected all of us with a single glare. I shifted around in my seat. The more nervous I got, the more my hands started to sweat. There was not a whisper from students and mentors alike. My mind started racing even further with the unknown possibilities. When Mrs. Hughes started to talk, the answer to my worries became blatantly apparent. “You are probably all wondering why
this meeting was scheduled,” she said in a tense voice. “Over the last couple of weeks, I have been hearing from parents, mentors, and the captains, that many students have been uncooperative. This came in the form of either not showing up, complaining about being here, or leaving on a short term notice.” When I heard this, my mind became incompetent, while my body went into hyperactivity mode. My heart started beating faster, and my body started to sweat more. All I could think of was guilt. I was about whom she was talking. I might not have skipped and complained, but I had always tried to leave because of tennis. When I thought of tennis, my mind went into an even greater depression. What was I going to do about my tournament!? My opponent had traveled from Traverse City to play me, and I did not want his trip to be for nothing. The tennis tournament now seemed miniscule compared to the grander scale of things though: if I left, I would look like the very person Mrs. Hughes had just mentioned. A slacker. A lier. A betrayer. Mrs. Hughes kept talking about some other events, but nothing was more important than those two sentences. Every word in these sentences was like a sledgehammer to my brain, slowly lowering the confidence and faith in myself. After the meeting, the world around me looked so different. The ground looked rougher, the light duller, and life felt unacceptable. I paced, even tried to talk to myself. The one thing I did more than anything else was thinking. I thought with my eyes focused on one spot on the wall. A white, barren, brick patterned wall with all of its irregularities and mistakes, represented my life. Many parts were smooth and clean, but sometimes there were rough spots. Walls can be fixed. Because of this, it was easier to make my decision, knowing that maybe I could fix my life. After a long period of consideration, I made up my mind: I chose to stick with RUSH, since I knew that RUSH would be more useful for my future. Through this experience with the collision of two worlds, I learned that human
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BEST PERSUASIVE ESSAYS
Voting
By: Kelley Kavouras, 5th grade, Andersonville Elementary, Davisburg
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hat is one simple way that you can make your voice heard? The answer is rather obvious - voting. Voting can change our world for the better one vote at a time!
Save the Sharks
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Voting is the right that you get when you turn 18. Is it fair that you have to wait till you are 18? In my opinion, it is fair, because to vote, people need to have formed beliefs and mature understanding of things. If a 2 year old was allowed to vote, for what exactly will he or she be voting? That one vote might pick
someone, who is not equipped, for the job. Voting hasn’t always been fair though. For a long time, not everyone had the right to vote. According to history.com, women weren’t allowed to vote until around August 18, 1920 (two hundred years from the time that the first voting took place.) African American men weren’t allowed to vote until February 3, 1870 - only 50 years before women had the right to vote. As important as voting is, does it always produce the right results? On November 14, 2018, I asked three high school students two questions about voting: How, do you think, voting has changed in the time you’ve been alive? and How, do you think, voting should be changed? The answers were very similar. More people are now interested to vote, especially younger people. At the same time, more people vote for the candidates of their political parties and not for the people they like. This is something that needs to change. You can change the world by doing your research and voting for people, not parties. Always remember to vote! Always remember that you have a voice.
By: Brayden Sonshine, 2nd grade, Gretchko Elementary, West Bloomfield
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f you care about the ocean as much as I do, then wouldn’t you do everything that you can to save the animals that live inside it? Sharks are the top predators of the sea. From their powerful tails to their ferocious jaws, they are the kings of the ocean. A shark can grow the length of a bus. Great white sharks grow up to 15 feet long, and they can grow one thousand teeth! Sharks are endangered animals that we need to preserve. One way you can help save the sharks is by not participating in a type of hunting called shark finning. Shark finning is when hunters take the fins of a shark and discard the rest. This is no way for a shark to live its life, and it must be stopped. Pollution is another way sharks can become injured. Pollution kills around 100 million sharks a year. One way to stop pollution is by discarding your trash in the garbage can and not on the ground. So, remember never to pollute our precious ocean and always keep in mind that sharks are an important part of our world. Don’t hurt them.
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Quantitative Human Nature By: Jack Gibbs, 12th grade, Clarkston High School, Clarkston
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e, as a society, have progressively begun to value a style of single minded thinking that produces tangible results. We try and put numerical labels on abstract concepts that are simply unquantifiable. People do this because it is less risky to be wrong when they have a solid statistical basis. There are many examples of this phenomenon, but none of them is as evident as the flaws that exist in our system of education. When Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, a National Champion, was drafted, he came nine spots below Mitchell Trubisky. Watson led Clemson to a national championship over a perennial National Champion, the Alabama Crimson Tide. The team was stacked up and down with NFL prospects; some of the biggest, fastest guys in the NFL today played for that Alabama team. Yet, Trubisky, with mediocre stats and few accomplishments, was drafted before Watson. Trubisky went 8-5 at the University of North Carolina and was drafted higher than Watson solely because his NFL combine athleticism (tangible) results were better than Watson’s. What the scouts did not take into consideration that day at the NFL draft were the intangibles. They overvalued the quantifiable statistics and devalued such things as competitiveness and work ethic. Another example of this phenomenon is captured by author Steven Levitt in Think Like a Freak, where he describes a soccer player taking a penalty kick. Statistically, soccer players score the most when they kick the ball straight at the goalie; this is because the goalie never expects this and dives right or left. However, this is the spot in the net where soccer players kick the ball the least. While this seems to make no sense, we have to consider their mindset. If the goalie doesn’t move, kicking it straight at
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him seems like a boneheaded move that would surely cost the team a game. This fear of being wrong is the reason that we overvalue tangible stats and undervalue the more important things, simply because they cannot be quantified. This fear is caused by a societal pressure that we place on people for being wrong in the ultra-competitive world that we live in. A world where being right is valued over true understanding. Likewise, in a study, scientists had chimpanzees throw darts at boards that represented randomly picked stocks. They had a variety of stock brokers choose stocks that they believed were going to do well and measured the growth of these stocks for five years after. What they found was that the differences in growth between the stocks picked by the chimpanzees and the stocks picked by the stock brokers were minimal. In some cases, the chimpanzees with darts actually picked stocks that made more money than those chosen by the professionals. The truth is that the professional stock brokers were unable to say a phrase that
humans try to avoid - “I don’t know.” It is in human nature to place too much emphasis on what we do know and not enough on what we don’t know, and that is why we struggle to predict the future. Often, what we don’t know heavily outweighs what we do know, and I find that to be one the greatest fallacies in the nature of human thinking. This may seem relatively unimportant, however in the long run, when we are able to think more efficiently, we enable ourselves to progress. We should seek a world in which problem solving is a dominant skill, and the first step to take is to reform education. My classmates, the cinder block walls, and the same old result-driven process make up the modern day factory that propels our society forward. This factory is often disguised by its misleading title - High School. This title is misleading because the modern day school incentivizes everything but learning. Where learning was once at the forefront, now exists a learn-test-forget process, which makes students feel that the grades are more important than the progress. We have created a school environment, in which students have a different alter ego for each class. These alter egos work harder in more challenging classes and tend to ease off in less rigorous courses. It’s important that we place less emphasis on grades or being right and more emphasis on understanding through changing the incentivization for students. Just like the current competitive nature of society, schools cultivate our generation to be right - not necessarily smart. Not only is this not pushing us in the right direction but it’s also leading us down a slippery slope, where these fallacies in human thinking are becoming more common. If our world begins to value important things and not just the quantifiable concepts and ideas, we will truly be able to cultivate the great minds. While changing the way seven billion people think appears to be an incredible undertaking, we will never get anywhere as a society if we don’t start somewhere. Be a part of that start by embracing the unquantifiable!
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B E S T C R E AT I V E F I C T I O N
The Boy and the Scribble King
By: Dominic Mauti, 4th grade, Stadium Drive Elementary, Lake Orion
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nce there was a kid who loved to draw. One day he got sucked in his drawings! His drawings stretched for miles. He could see drawings from the time when he was two years old all the way till now! With his pencil in hand, he walked into the distance. He walked past buildings, cows, digging elephants; you name it, it was there, literally! Then he found some of his favorite drawings. But they were moving! They ran over to him. They started talking. “You are our only hope,” said one. “But he is just a kid,” said another. “Who cares!” interrupted the third one. “I care!” stated the second one.
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They did this for quite a while, back and forth. All the boy could understand was that he would not survive the Scribble Monster. He got frightened and ran behind a near tree. The drawings were yelling at each other too much to notice him slip away. Still listening to the Scribble Monster argument, the kid needed a plan, if he was going to fight him. But all he had was a useless pencil! Then it came to him... He was in a piece of paper. Right. He had a pencil. Right! So, he could draw his way out! The boy drew a stick in the air, and it fell to the ground! He drew some armor; when it fell, he put it on. He drew a sword and picked it up. He drew a pocket, put it on his pants, and put his pencil in his pocket. He was ready! He walked slowly around the tree. “There he is,” said one of the drawings.
“He is already suited,” said a second drawing. “Let's go!” said one. “Yes!” said another. And they set off! Soon, he and the drawings were in front of a cave. The boy was puzzled; he did not remember drawing such a cave. It was a mess, and it was made by attached hopes. But worst of all, there was a beast made by hopes, and it was sitting right inside the cave, right next to him!!! “Go ahead” said the goblin. “And do what?” ask the kid. “And slay the beast!” said box man. “Are you crazy?!” screeched the kid! Grrrr! came a noise from behind them. The beast had woken up! “ Hi-ya!” screamed the kid. He lifted his sword and split the beast in two! “Ya!” shouted the crowd. “You saved us from the Scribble Monster! Thank you! ” The kid now lives in his drawings to this day.
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Just a Curse By: Olivia Spitznas, 5th grade, Springfield Plains Elementary, Clarkston
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’m Aimee. I am just like every other kid. I like ice cream, playing outside, and doing normal kid stuff. I’m in 7th grade, like all my friends, but I don’t learn 7th grade stuff. See, I’m really smart, and I’m too advanced for most of my classes. My uncle Harvey is a college professor. He teaches physics, so I go with him during my first and second hours of the day. I can tell people get annoyed with me being smart. One day people started to realize that my intelligence wasn’t just from what I’ve learned and how good I understood things. It's because I’m a genius. RINGGG!!! Finally, Advanced ELA was over; I practically ran to get to Accelerated Science. I ran all that way to find out WE HAVE A POP QUIZ! Ugh. I got my test and wrote my name at the top. “Okay, what is the main difference between an animal cell and a plant cell?” I asked myself. Not soon after I was zooming through it. “Oh my gosh, I’m done!” I double checked it, brought it up to my teacher, Mrs. Lake, and set it on her desk. She picked it up, looked me up and down, and asked, “Did you double check this?” “Yes…” I replied. Mrs. Lake gave me a nod, “I believe it, you’re a smart cookie!” “Thanks.” I said awkwardly. She rummaged through her desk and pulled out a dusty file. She blew the dust off intensely, making us both cough.
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“Sorry, honey, I wanted a dramatic effect,” she said handing me a tissue. She opened the file and gave me “The Test”. “Um ok...” I said and took it back to my desk. I began filling it out. Even though it said it was a test, it wasn’t like most tests. It was asking questions about me, not science. Questions that my teacher should already know. I brought
it back up to her. “What is this for?” I asked. She replied with “ Um… It’s just something for you to work on after you finished your first test.” “Ok…..” I said suspiciously. I took it back to my desk and started thinking. “Umm... why is it asking me these questions?” The first question was “How did
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B E S T C R E AT I V E F I C T I O N you get into Accelerated Science?”, then the next question was “ What is your IQ?” I brought it up to Mrs. Lake again. “Why do you want to know what you already know?” I asked. “Umm… I… Will.. one moment.” She walked over to the phone on the wall and dialed a 4 digit number, then waited. While speaking, she would whisper and look over at me. I walked a little closer trying to be subtle, but she noticed. “She’s starting to notice,” Mrs. Lake said in a rushed quiet voice, then hung up very fast. She turned around and looked at me again like she was looking straight into my soul, “Honey, just do the test!” Her voice was rising and becoming more strict. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not taking that test!” I whisperyelled and started toward the door. “AIMEE!” she yelled, instantly putting her hands over her mouth and looking toward the rest of the class, who was staring back at her. I gasped and pushed through the door. I walked a little faster, when anyone asked me what was wrong. I had one goal - to get out of there. RING RING. “Please pick up, mom, please!!” I thought as I called home from the office phone. “Hello?” I heard the familiar voice. “Hi, mom. My stomach hurts. Can I come home?” “Does it hurt that badly, honey?” In my peripheral vision, I saw Mrs. Lake walking toward the office. “Mom! Please, it hurts really bad!” I said faster. “Okay, honey. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Are you sure you can’t make it through the rest of the day?” “YES, MOM! Please hurry up!” I looked out the passenger window as the school began to get smaller on our drive home. I had the deep feeling of guilt. “Mom, my stomach doesn’t actually hurt…” “WHAT????” Mom looked at me with her eyes wide open “My teacher was being really weird, like she was... I don't know. She made me take this weird test, and when I asked her why I was taking it, she didn’t
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answer. Instead, she called someone and said, “She’s starting to notice” about me! What does that mean, mom? I’m scared!” “That’s really weird, honey. I don’t actually know what to say…” When we got home, my mom made a couple of phone calls to the school, and I’m pretty sure, the police! I stayed in my room and did homework from the classes I did go to before I left. “BANG!” I whipped my chair around and saw my curtain rod on the floor. I walked over to it and picked it up, my heart still racing.That’s when I saw a shadow from the corner of my eye. I turned so abruptly that I almost fell over. There was something there; it wasn’t my imagination. I tried to scream as I felt cold hands cover my mouth. They placed a bag over my head, and my last glimpse of light disappeared. Big hands picked me up. I heard a car door open and a motor start. I was put into the car, and we drove somewhere. I woke up in a white room with bright lights. “Where am I?” I wondered as I got up and looked around. I saw a big mirror. Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere: “FILL OUT THE PAPER ON THE TABLE BEHIND YOU.” “What tab-” I started, but saw a white table come out of the floor. “Never mind.” There was one question in the middle of the page: “How much knowledge would you say you have?” “ What does that even mean?!” I said out loud. I thought for a second, but the voice came again. “ANSWER IT.” I wrote a big number I couldn’t name with a lot of zeros. “Here, it’s done.” I held it out into the direction of the voice. A door opened in a random spot on the wall. A tall man in a suit walked up to me and took the paper. He turned around to examine it. It was the perfect time to escape. I snuck around him through the opening in the wall and took off. I ran as fast as I could down many corridors toward the light. Just when I
thought I was out, a big arm came out of a room and swooped me in. “Let me go!!” I yelled as loudly as I could. “Shh!” I heard a voice above me, while I was being transported into a dark room. A person was wearing a mask, which he abruptly pulled down. “I’m helping you!” “DAD??!!!” “Yes, it’s me. I’ll explain on the way out.” We walked through some tunnels; my dad was talking fast. “I haven't been coming home because of work, like I said, but I didn’t tell you why. This company I work for... They said they could make people smarter. I wanted to help. What I didn’t realize was that they had to get the knowledge from somewhere. When they said they found a smart girl they could get the knowledge from, I knew they were talking about you. I knew it was a bad idea, but I couldn’t let them find out that I knew what they were doing, because I knew what they were capable of. I’m sorry. I should’ve stopped it the instant I found out. When I heard they put a spy in your school, Mrs. Lake, I knew it was definitely you whom they wanted.” “WHAT!!!!??? Why didn’t you quit or come home and tell me??” “I’m really sorry! I wanted to tell you, but I would’ve gotten in BIG trouble! I can’t quit because they would have to erase my memory. I knew what they were up to.” “It’s okay, dad. Thank you so much for saving me!” Before I knew it, we were at the end of the tunnel. “Be careful, they will still be looking for you.” “Can you stop them?” “I’ll try! Now, run home as fast as you can and tell your mom I miss her, and I’ll try to come home tonight, and I’m sorry, and-” “Okay, dad. I love you!” “I love you, too. Be safe!” I did what he said, and I ran home as fast as I could. After that day, my life changed. I couldn’t take my knowledge for granted anymore. I couldn’t look at it as a blessing. Just a curse.
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BEST REALISTIC FICTION
Recess By: Mackenzie Harrison, 3rd grade, Springfield Plains Elementary, Clarkston
“Recess!” yelled Sara. Sara ran really fast out the doors and up onto the playset, where she first went fast down the slide. “Let’s go and play on the monkey bars!” she said to Norah. Norah agreed. Both girls loved the monkey bars because they tried every recess to get across. This was the first time Sara was able to make it all the way across and so was Norah! They were very happy that they both finished the whole round of the monkey bars. That was their first time! Then, Olivia came out to recess near the playset and started tapping Sara again and again because she wanted to ask Sara a question. It was really bothering Sara. Olivia tapped her really hard on purpose and knocked her on the ground. “Hey that hurt!” said
Sara, rubbing her knee. “Stop bragging about finishing the monkey bars!” Olivia said. “We weren’t bragging; we were just very excited,” Sara replied. Then Norah walked up to Olivia and said, “Hey, that’s my friend. You can’t be mean to my friend. Look at her knee!” Olivia saw the bruise on Sara’s knee, and she started to feel bad. Seeing the bruise on Sara’s knee made her realize
Break The Leg! By: Alyssa Johnson, 4th grade, Paint Creek Elementary, Lake Orion
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y name is Alex. I am now in 6th grade, and I am a competitive dancer. Every time I compete, I hear people say “Break the Leg!” wishing me success. A couple of years ago, I think I took it a bit too literally. One nice weekend in summer, I was getting ready for my National dance competition. I was competing in jazz, ballet, and lyrical, representing a studio, called Dance Academy. A night before the event, I practiced one more time before competition. I was determined. It was 8:00 pm, when I was done. I got SEPTEMBER 2019
home, ate my dinner, and got a good night sleep. I woke up at 5:00 am next morning. The competition began at 9 am with the lyrical dance. “Break the leg!” I heard my Mom say before I went on stage. I smiled to myself, knowing that we would sure do that. I got on stage, took my pose, and when the music started playing, we started dancing. We were halfway through the dance, when I had to be picked up in the air. We had done this many times! Suddenly, something didn’t feel right. My body seemed unbalanced, leaning to one side as I was becoming airborne. Then, I heard a loud smack as my leg exploded with pain. The music stopped.
that she needed to use her words instead of her arms. Standing up for her friend, Norah made Olivia rethink her behavior. Olivia walked to the recess aid and asked for a bag of ice to help heal Sara’s knee, and Sara gladly forgave her. Sara was thankful that Olivia went to get ice for her. Olivia was not a mean girl anymore. She was a nice girl. They then became good friends. The three girls learned that they should be kind and caring to others.
Everything was blurry from this point on. Someone called 911, and instead of the podium, I found myself at the hospital with a broken leg! The doctors said it would be eight weeks till my leg healed. The next day at school I went to my locker; my friends Marry, Pam, and Angela came over to me. They were seeing if I was okay. I said, “Yeah! I REALLY broke the leg!” At lunch, I got spaghetti and meatballs and sat by my friends; we talked mostly about what happened during the competition. It was eight weeks later, when I got to get my cast off. I waited a few days for it to get used to walking and dancing. Then we had to finish the competition; it was 2 hours long. Then, it was my favorite part ever: awards! We won the first place for everything; I was happy and proud. I broke the leg again, but this time in a much better way!
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BEST REALISTIC FICTION
“A Million to One”
By: Grant Mathews, 12th grade, Clarkston High School, Clarkston
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est day. The day every student fears. The final product is yet to come out of the hours crammed packed with studying from the night before, along with the hundreds of flash cards that had been turned over, time and time again. Each student walks into the room and takes a seat. The bell rings. The teacher stands up, “Everyone, take out your pencils; the test is starting.” Time ticks by as the students study their test carefully. None of them is missing a single word. The questions flow smoothly through their heads as they chew their pencils with satisfaction. They relax their inelastic muscles as they feel that the studying has paid off. Students, one after the next begin to get up from their seats to set their test in the ‘turn in’ tray. Each of them strutters back to his or her seat with pride. Except one. One, who has studied more than all of the others. One, who has spent countless nights studying past his curfew, burning the candle at both ends, and attending study hall after school. His anxiety was getting to him. It was something that he just couldn’t keep out of his head. A glance around the room amplifies the worried look in his eyes. His plastic pencil flicks between his fingers, shaking 22
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up the broken thoughts that have yet to come out. He keeps his head tucked down, while his eyes look up, trying to keep his panic as discreet as possible. He frantically searches for relief with the sight of a single soul, who is still writing away, but everyone has finished. His leg bounces up and down, as a way to vent the pressurized stress that is built up inside him. Shining red numbers on the clock stare back at him with disappointment. The numbers change, and change again. He fears for why time is passing so quickly. Every flick of the red bulb, makes his mind race faster. He can’t concentrate; every simple word seems like a code to a safe with nothing in it. He places his feet flat on the floor and sits up straight, hoping his terrible posture has been his issue all along. Nothing changes. His brain feels like a pile of tangled cords that would need an army just to unravel. This simple test turns into an equation that seems too damn far from being possible to solve. What can he do? He has studied for hours, but there feels like there is not a single helpful thing in his mind. Millions of thoughts have sealed his brain in a tight box, only to come out when it feels safe. He pushes his intertwined fingers away from him, anticipating that the satisfying pop will bring him back to his senses. He is strangling himself in his mind, praying to
snap out of the powerful trance he has accidentally cast over himself. His eyes follow the jumbled words across the page, as easily as taking a deep breath in a tank of water. The words fly through his mind, lost, seeming to pour out his ears and nose like a running faucet. The reminder of ticking time is back to knock on his skull louder than an avalanche. In his head he feels hope, like an idea or memory trying desperately to get out. A measly voice digs its way through the angry mob of thoughts, just to scream, “THINK!” The false feeling of progression kills his sense of aspiration to finish this test. Panic increases more by the second; every blink of an eye feels like a wasted eternity. Class time is running out, and his pencil is slipping away from his clammy hands. The feeling of other students eyes staring at him takes over his brain. “Why do they keep looking at me?” “What are they whispering about?” His insecurity grows, unable to explain the disadvantage he has under them. Each minute a new issue grabs his focus. Thousands of thoughts race in and out, like ants carrying food to their queen. He pulls his fingers together firmly around his pencil, breaking free from the straightjacket of stress he is locked in. He closes his eyes and thinks deeply. Not about the test or any events around him, but instead, imagines himself in his room, sitting quietly with a pile of flash cards in front of him. He knows the answer deep down inside of him. He read it more times than you could count. His anxiety fades. The tight walls around him seem to collapse, releasing thousands of worthless thoughts into the shining light. He opens his eyes wide, reads his paper, slowly and clearly. He sits for a moment, a moment that feels slower than ever before. His mind feels free of the screaming anxiety that possessed him not long ago. He knows the question; he must have studied it a million times. He fills in the dark grey bubble with confidence. The only thing blocking him the whole time was himself. Millions of thoughts broke loose when he was only looking for... one.
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B E S T N A R R AT I V E S
Soccer By: Julia Donnelly, 4th grade, Paint Creek Elementary, Lake Orion
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n a hot summer morning, I was playing at the World Cup. I had to win. I'd played soccer for my whole life, since I was one. The game was in Brazil, playing against the Palmira - an 8-time winner of this competition. My family rented an apartment so I could be close to the field. I had to wake up super early at 4:00 am to practice for the big game coming up that day. I packed my bag with my cleats, shin guards, and socks. I was wearing my lucky shorts; I can never win without these shorts! I also had to wear a t-shirt because coach said he's going to give us new jerseys for the game. So, when my alarm woke me up at 4:00am, I took a shower, got dressed, and ate breakfast. “Mom when are we leaving?” I asked. “In a couple of minutes!” my mom responded. I went outside and did some drills
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like coach taught us, and I did some juggling with the soccer ball. Finally, I heard a yell from my mom. “Let's get in the car before we are late!” my mom shouted. I ran straight to the car my bag was already there. “Buckle up!” my mom yelled. I was already buckled. I was so excited that I yelled all the way there. Finally, we were there. “It's so big!” my mom exclaimed. I just ran inside without even answering my mom, but then I heard another yell. “Come say goodbye to me, little missy!” I ran back ,and my mom said, “I'll watch your game, so you'll see me, and don’t forget that I love you.” I gave her a kiss on the cheek and ran straight in the building. My coach and my teammates were there. I sat down, and he talked about where we needed to be on field and when to use the drills. “Girls, you have worked so hard for this day. You deserve to win. Now, I have a surprise for you; we’ve got our jerseys!” my coach said. Everyone jumped up and shouted with joy; we lined up to get our
jerseys. We went in our locker room, put on our cleats, shin guards, and our socks. Then coach said that we had to practice outside. “Time for lunch!” my coach yelled after a few hours of practice. We went inside to the buffet; I had spaghetti and an apple for lunch. When I was done eating, everybody was now ready. The world cup was starting, and we had to go to the opening. “Everyone, do your best; win that trophy; play hard!” We all shouted our team’s name out: “Go Dragons!” Then we heard the speaker say, “Here come the Mighty Dragons!” We ran out, and everyone was cheering. I was forward. When the referee said “Go!” I ran across the field to be open for the pass. “Pass!” I yelled as loudly as I could. The ball was finally passed to me, and I scored a goal. The crowd was cheering! After the halftime, I was defense. The ball came flying at me. “Pass!” one of my teammates yelled. I passed the ball, with only one more minute to play. My friend was running across the field; she kicked as hard as she could, and we scored a goal! A minute later we won the trophy! I knew we could win!
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B E S T N A R R AT I V E S
The Not So ‘Greatest Show’ By: Cristina Tet 6th grade, Avondale Middle School
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y heart pounded with anticipation as my friends and I shuffled into the crowded bathroom filled with nervous tension, turning the air electric. Talent? To be honest, I really have many, but I still found myself dragged in by my friends’ grasp, getting ready for a Talent Show! I was especially nervous for this was my first and last time doing the annual Deerfield Elementary Talent Show. I was in 5th grade, and this was my last year here, so I felt I had to do it. The tangy smell of bleach from the janitors’ spray bottle infiltrated my nose, breaking my thoughts and jolting me back to my reality. Soon, we pushed our way through people tending to their hair and putting on accessories, until we stopped at the bathroom stalls, where a few girls were leaning against the wall, waiting to change. We crowded together, taking a place on the wall, while I watched three third graders giving themselves pep-talks. I could really use a pep-talk myself, since we had just found out that we were going to be the first act, and the butterflies in my stomach had turned into birds. Thinking of that, I looked at my friends, spilling out what was on my mind, “ Hey, guys, do we have to do this?” I pleaded. “Yes!” they immediately shouted in unison, having heard this question many times before. I groaned at the exact same answer. “Come on, Cristina, it’s going to be fun!” Isabelle told me, pushing me into the stall that had just opened. With nothing but my jelly legs supporting me, I wobbled into the stall. Before long Sophia, Sydney, Vivian, Isabelle, and I were ready for our act. Sophia and I were wearing matching white shirts and black pants with shiny red suspenders and bowties, while Sydney and Vivian were wearing shimmering white and golden dresses, and Isabelle in a tight red suit
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jacket. We grabbed our matching top hats, and we’re finally ready for our act. The hats were a bit too big for me and Sophia, so we glued little cotton balls on the inside to support our heads. “ Hey, guys, if you’re in one of the first three acts, could you please hurry up, we are starting soon!” one of the girls yelled through the bathroom door, her voice bouncing on the walls and hushing the loud bathroom. We looked at each other, realizing
what this meant. In nervous silence, we slowly walked forward. There was no turning back now. “Welcome, everyone, to Deerfield Annual Talent Show!” our principal, Mr. Goetz’s, voice blared across the loudspeaker. We came up behind the stage and were nervously talking behind the shadows of the curtains, while Mr. Goetz was giving his speech. My hands trembled, and my back went stiff, when I heard Mr. Goetz call out our names.
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B E S T N A R R AT I V E S
Caribbean Coconut
By: Rachel Troszak, 9th grade, Clarkston Junior High School
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here were the guy drama, the friend group drama, the family incoveces, the future plans discussions that only two close friends could figure out together. This huge mess of thoughts scattered my head as I sat in my bathtub (which is where you can find me most nights) with a guava peel-off face mask spread across my oily teenage skin. It was 11 o’clock at night, and the only thing entertaining me in that bath was my best friend, talking to me on the screen of Facetime. I ranted about the week that I had just walked through. “Jo, you’re frozen. Jo. Jo. JO! Dang, this service sucks!” I kept tapping the screen to try to get Jocelynn’s call to keep up with our conversation. I huffed a few times, and soon it all came back. SEPTEMBER 2019
“This would be a lot easier if I were just there,” I said frantically. “Well, head over!” “Are you sure?” It was late, and I was worried because I didn’t want to bother everyone else in the Detvo household. But soon enough, I was out of the tub and pulling my skin tight leggings on, which wasn’t the greatest idea for semi wet legs. As the mask dried, I hopped in my dad’s car with a charger, extra clothes, homework, and a makeup bag, all half falling out of my backpack. It was insane to make my dad go out on a chilly late night, but he agreed, and by 11:30 pm, I was walking into my second home, with my now crusty mask still on, some leggings that probably hadn’t been washed in two weeks, a radom crew neck, and my tangled curls thrown up and falling out of a velvet
scrunchie. To my relief, Jo looked just as big of a mess as me! Her tired almond eyes perked up when I arrived and ready to make us both feel a little better. Her heated tile floors made my feet feel cozy as I set down my bag. No one in her family was up, and although I love them, I welcomed it. As I was heaving myself up on the granite counter tops, Jo appeared from behind the freezer door. She pulled her hands back and I saw a container of white gelato labeled ¨Caribbean Coconut.” We both giggled, knowing that this was something we always ate. And, of course, she had some at this perfect time. Sometimes, Jo knows me better than I know myself. She knows what choice I’m going to make before I make it. She knows what I will want after being told something, and she even knows how I’m feeling that day before I even tell her. She scooted over and grabbed the spoons kept in the giant wood drawer painted black. Graciously sliding up on the counter, such as a seal would, Jocelynn sat criscrosed across from me. And so it began. That night, the amount of tears spilled on the floor could flood China in a foot of it. I sat there, thinking how amazing it felt to actually have someone there to listen and support me, not to mention laughing until we cried. That container, once full of creamy goodness, now only held the two sticky spoons, and the counter, once cold, was now warm from our bodies being there for so long. The rest of the night we layed in bed, online shopping and still talking about whatever came to mind. Finally falling asleep at two in the morning, I called it a good night. I don’t think we ever fully stop to think how good it feels to just be with someone close to us. I’m thankful for the memories I have made and the realization how important friendships are to us.
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BEST LITERARY REVIEWS
The Power of The Giver By: Ava Lipke, 7th grade, Sashabaw Middle School, Clarkston
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ois Lowry’s powerful writing makes a drastic impact on the reader in The Giver. Lowry brought this story to life in 1993, and it has continued to move and enchant readers ever since. The story, the 1994 Newbery Medal winner, follows 12-year-old Jonas as he takes his place in his community. Jonas lives in a seemingly ideal society that values monotony and uniformity, and everyone is expected to abide by the rules established by the people in power. Jonas lives quite normally with his assigned family, and soon, with a young toddler named Gabriel. However, things start taking a different turn for Jonas once he is selected to become the new Receiver of knowledge and meets the old, mysterious Giver. The Giver, an important but unknown
figure, advises the community and helps create rules. There have been countless Givers before him and more before them. Jonas becomes part of this cycle. Instead of taking his place among the rest of community, he is sent away and placed with the Giver. Jonas feels excluded and separated, but he is also given the gift of memory, which makes him question the rules and practices of his community. Jonas, for the first time in his life, can see beyond what everyone around him considers normal. His realization separates and distances him from his community ever further. Jonas struggles with this habitual thinking for much of the story, but eventually, he takes action and changes things, for better or worse. The Giver is a book everyone can enjoy. With lifelike characters and a dilemma that readers find relevant, Lowry makes his readers rethink rules that
seem impossible to change, often because they’ve existed for so long that they became habitual. Lowry crafted The Giver wonderfully so the book makes you discover the horrifying reality of conformity and understand the power of memories that are passed along through writing.
No Pretty Pictures: A Child Of War, Anita Lobel By: Kaitlin Parks, 7th grade, Sashabaw Middle School, Clarkston
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o Pretty Pictures is a story of a Jewish refugee girl during World War II. Anita was just turning five when the Nazis burst through the door of her house. The story starts with Anita, (Hanusia), growing up in the city Kraków, Poland, with her brother. Everything was fine; she was happy living with her brother, mom, dad and nanny (Niania), until the Nazis invaded Kraków. It was so troubling for the family that they decided that Anita’s brother would be safer as a girl. They dressed him in dresses, and he grew his hair out until it was around shoulder length. The family was eventually forced to move, after the Nazis had stripped them of all of their belongings. They took all of
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their silverware, rugs, and jewelry. They also took Anita’s dad, Tatuś. During this devastating time, Niania took Anita and her brother to a new home in a town called Łapanów. The Nazis came after them more and more and, finally, separated the children from Niania. Now without the help of a trusted adult, they were forced to keep moving and to keep surviving. Anita Lobel uses imagery to help the readers understand her true emotions throughout the book. For example, “The day was hot. Through the stinking contents of the chamber pot drying on my skin, I could smell the fresh bread in Niania’s bundle. I was hungry. Only a few drops of the chamber pot shower seemed
to have dripped on Niania. The food was safe. We came to a grove of trees and some shade. There was a brook and clear clean water. Alone, we washed ourselves. Niania rinsed our clothes and laid everything out to dry in the sun. She checked the bundle of linen. It was clean.” Anita Lobel skillfully portrays the life of someone who was constantly on the run, who couldn’t trust anyone. That’s what her definition of a refugee is. Any war is horrible to so many people, that’s why Anita has no pretty pictures from that time; all it brings back is scarring memories. By writing this book, Anita takes a stand against the war and mistreating people by other people.
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BEST IN POETRY
Uses of Technology
Math is Great!
By: Nolan Tacheny,
By: Kate Smith,
M. A. T. H.
5th grade, Woodland Elementary, Troy
4th grade, Woodland Elementary, Troy
Math. Math is great. In school you learn math. You also Learn math if you are homeschooled. You will use math your whole life, even outside of school.
Time. Time flies when you do math because it is fun. Plus In math you learn how to read time. In math you also learn ALL your times tables.
Technology By: Nicole Karlson, 5th grade, Woodland Elementary, Troy
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yping to make your writing look professional
ntertainment, like by watching T.V.
an look up what you don’t know
Addition. Addition is usually the first thing you learn in Math. Addition is really important in math.
Height. In math you also learn how to measure height. Usually addition and subtraction are used to help you measure height.
T E C H N O L O G Y
elps communicate to people far away eed it to remind you to do things rder items that you want and need
ocate places on a G.P.S. ffers new information to learn
ames that you can play to have fun
ou can travel places in a vehicle
What Makes Me Go Crazy! By: Addie Rayment, 2nd grade, Andersonville Elementary, Davisburg
echnology is important in our lives because
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veryone uses it every day. It
hanges how we live and ow we learn. ow, technology has improved ver the years.
ots of new things have been made with technology.
O G Y
vens are one example
ames are another .
ou are even using technology when you text someone.
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Seeing cats makes me go crazy. I smile when I see a cat. It makes me healthy. Seeing cats make me go crazy. Whenever I see one, it makes me craaaazzzzyyyyy Cats make me go crazy Because they are so cute and so furry. The cat that makes me go the craziest is the Scottish Fold. Their ears fold and it’s so cute! The cutest cats are Scottish Fold, Ocicats, Maine Coons, Calacos, and American Shorthairs. When I see a cat, I run in circles and then I run in an eight shape and then in a straight line! Cats are important Because they keep me happy and help me be myself!
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BEST IN POETRY
Society’s Mentality By: Madeline Felter, 12th grade, Clarkston High School
People accusing the innocent as a killer, Yet in reality, all they do is tremble in corners as they fear their own thoughts. All they want is a break from life, even if it means suicide. They can’t control how they feel, how they think, or sometimes even how they act. Even if there are several more struggling with the same issues, they feel alone in their battles. All they wish for is freedom from their mental cages. Their mental state is no joke, If not treated properly, they could make a killer blow. They don’t wish to be alone anymore, but it doesn’t help when no one will listen. Their hands tremble as they try to speak up, But they can’t control feeling like someone or something is holding them back. That’s why some think suicide is the only 28
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solution to their sadness. Why don’t you take your time to look at the amount of suicide around the world? Just take the time to look at the world’s mental health. Take a look inside to see how little control they have left of their fate. Look in to see before they become their own killer. What you see might make you tremble with fear, But don’t run, they don’t want to fight these battles alone anymore. They shouldn’t have to be alone anymore, Let them know that suicide isn’t the answer. Don’t leave them in the cold of the darkness to tremble, Let them know that their mental state is not their own fault. Leaving them to stir and rage creates a killer, But invite them in and they may learn how to control it.
Maybe then we can show the world that they aren’t killers. Maybe then we can show them that suicide isn’t the right way to escape. Maybe then we can show that their mental state isn’t something to be ashamed of. Maybe then our society will learn to accept them and not tremble at the thought of them. Let us wrap them in a blanket of acceptance so they no longer tremble, Let us show them that control over their thoughts is possible. Their mental state is something our society should accept, not shun. Wouldn’t you hate it if you were all alone in your darkest times? Wouldn’t you feel miserable if people kept telling you that you should commit suicide? Wouldn’t you hate it if you were innocent, but were still framed as a killer? Don’t let the innocent become killers.
To control their own mind is something they crave for.
Don’t let them think that their only escape is suicide.
Allow them to know that they aren’t alone in their fight for their mind.
Don’t let over half of our society feel so alone in our big, cold world. www.KidsStandard.org
BEST IN POETRY
World Erased By: Brendan Leddy, 12th grade, Clarkston High School, Clarkston
A-Murder B-Chaos C-Rubbish D-Deterioration E-Rescue F-Ruler Everyday the world deals with murder Deals with the chaos Waters full of rubbish Causing the beautiful oceans mass deterioration That is why we must rescue Not only ourselves but the world as a whole with the help of a ruler. Not the math type of ruler But the ruler that will stop this murder That will help us save, heal and rescue The ruler that will end this chaos Stop this overload of deforestation and the lands deterioration Clean the world of this rubbish full of rubbish And I mean all the rubbish.
Clean the waters of the pollution that causes murder
Not Just the rubbish we call our ruler.
Clean the waters so that we can rescue
And not only the Rubbish that causes deterioration
Rescue all the beautiful creatures below with the help our ruler
The rubbish that causes this murder The rubbish that causes this chaos That is why we need to rescue Save the people of our planet that need rescue Save the life of our planet stuck in this rubbish Save the world from this chaos. The world needs help from our ruler To put an end to this murder That aides in the worlds deterioration We must put a stop to mass deterioration Stop the desertification and the pollution of waters now
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Save the creatures stuck in this chaos Land and Water surrounded by chaos Chaos including deforestation Deforestation that can be stopped by one ruler Ruler who can Rescue A ruler who can save a world full of rubbish A ruler who can put an end to this murder Clean the world full of rubbish Aide the world that needs rescue End the world full of murder.
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PA R E N T ’ S C O R N E R
It's Time for Back to School
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Maggie Razdar Publisher/Founder
nce again, it’s time for school! You’re probably feeling thrilled and perhaps a little sad that summer is over. Many students are nervous or a little frightened on the first day of school for many reasons: new teachers, new friends, and maybe even a new school. Luckily, these “new” worries only stick around for a little while. Let’s find out more about going back to school. Teachers usually kick off the school year by introducing themselves and talking about all the things you’ll learn and do that year! Most teachers give students a chance to tell something about themselves to the rest of the class—an introduction that goes a long way when getting to know your classmates. On the first day of school, teachers also introduce the rules for their class. You will find out not only about behaviours that are off-limits, but also about the endless activities that you can and will do during the school year. Pay close attention so you aren’t left wondering what the classroom rules are later on! You might already know a lot of students in your classes on the first day, but it’s still a great day to make a new friend! So try to say hello to kids you know and new ones that you don’t. Make the first move; you’ll be glad you did and so will your new friend! You might find
yourself moving to a new school in the new school year! You’ll encounter new hallways, lockers, and a new homeroom where you’ll see many new faces! In case you haven’t heard of a “homeroom” before, it’s a classroom where you’ll go each morning, kind of like your “home” in the school. If transitioning to middle school, keep in mind that you will be moving from classroom to classroom for each subject. Your teachers know that this is a big change and will help you to adjust. Here are a few final tips for a fantastic beginning of the month of September: • Get enough sleep. • Eat a healthy breakfast. • Strive for your best. • Develop good work habits, like writing down your assignments and turning in your homework on time. • Take your time with school work. If you don’t understand something, ask the teacher, a parent, or a friend. • Keep a sense of humour. Not everything will go your way, so it’s good to laugh at your mistakes, as well as learning from them! • Turn mistakes into learning opportunities. • Work to join clubs and be involved in your school’s community. • Be compassionate to everyone you meet.
To Sign Up for Programs Go to:
http://kidsstandard.org/academia To order a copy of the Magazine for your school delivery go to:
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F I N A N C I A L L I T E R AC Y
Finding a Balance of Saving and Spending By: Ian Duncanson, Financial Educator II, MSU Federal Credit Union
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o you want to be a spender or saver? The good news is that you don’t have to choose one or the other! Let’s talk a little bit about how spenders and savers experience the world a bit differently and how to find the right balance.
Spenders:
People who label themselves a spender tend to have long lists of things they want to spend their money on. This might include things they want to buy, but it could also include experiences they want to spend money on, such as trips to theme parks or traveling. Spending can feel fun in the moment because you get
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access to things you want now, instead of later. Spenders often focus on living in the moment, sometimes saying the phrase, “You only live once!” The major drawback to spending money as quickly as it’s earned is that it’s difficult to build up a savings account. That means they’re probably always waiting for the next bit of cash they’ll receive in order to buy the next thing on their ever-growing list. It also makes it more difficult to afford more expensive things.
Savers:
People who label themselves as savers tend to try to save every penny they earn. They often take pride in watching their account balances grow as they add to their savings total. Savers tend to think twice before buying something expensive and they often wait for special
occasions to ask for things they want instead of spending their own money on those items. Saving money can feel great if you find satisfaction in knowing you have money when you need it or want it. On the downside, people who are strict savers may wind up feeling guilty every time they spend money, even when it’s for something fun. That can take the fun out of things that they buy or experiences they have because of worries about spending money.
Finding a Balance:
While some people may operate as strict savers or free spenders, it’s important to find a balance that works for you. Healthy financial habits allow for some of both! Consider choosing a percentage of any money you receive that you’ll automatically designate as savings. The rest can be considered spending money that you can spend guilt-free. This allows you to have the best of both worlds by building up a savings account for things that come up down the road, while also having some spending money you can devote to doing things that make you happy now.
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