StudentsXpress Summer 2021

I like to travel to school because I love to learn.

—Shaad S.

www.studentsxpress.com Publisher Rachel Switall Magazine Group, NFP Rachel Switall Editor, Art Director, Production Manager rachel@studentsxpress.com Ethan Switall Social Media Manager

While showcasing art and writing from students in Chicago Public Schools, StudentsXpress promotes creativity and literacy, encourages alternative expressions, creates positive self esteem and opens discussions.

Dear Readers, This past year has been a challenge for everyone. I’d like to extend a special thank you to all of the schools that have participated in this and our previous issue. I know it was more difficult to do from a remote standpoint.

Since the pandemic has limited movement, I thought it would be fun for the students to explore the idea of travel: where was the best place you ever traveled? If you could travel anywhere, where would you go? These are just two of the prompts given to the students.

I hope you enjoy their responses and artwork on the following pages!

I like to travel to school because I love to learn.

Cover by Shaad S.

I am proud that StudentsXpress is still around, and I currently hope to continue it next school year—either in a printed or digital format. I hope all of our current schools will continue to participate and, as always, I welcome new schools to join us at any time. If you belong to, or know of, a school that would like to contribute work to our future issues, please contact me.

—Rachel rachel@studentsxpress.com www.studentsxpress.com

Where’s the Word Search?

Since this is a digital-only issue, you can find the Printable TRAVEL Word Search on our web site.

Just go to: www.studentsxpress.com > For Students > Games Students— When submitting work, please be sure to write neatly. Spell check does not check names, so I apologize if I got any names wrong!

Also, if you’re turning in artwork, unlined white paper is the best.

And please write your name on every page submitted.

Thank you!

Contact rachel@studentsxpress.com if your school would like to participate in StudentsXpress.

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Can you find these pictures throughout the magazine?

My Favorite Place to Travel

I like to travel to the beach with my parents. I like going into the water and building sand castles.

—Zayla S.

I think

that the best place is Mexico because that is where my family was born and I did a birthday party when I was little, and I would like to go to Hawaii and I’d like to go there because it is warm and quiet, and I would like to get there by flight and I would like to bring my family and my relatives in a private plane.

—Nataly S.

I would like to go to 3002 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90405. Because that is the studio of my favorite tv show. I will never tell anyone what my favorite tv show is. And I have never been to California. I would like to see California and my favorite tv show being filmed.

—Andrey P.

I love to travel. The best place I

have ever traveled to is Mexico. I have been to Mexico twice. In Mexico some things I like to do are go swimming, go in the hot tub, play tennis and golf and go to the swim up bar. Every night at our hotel they would put on a play one night it was Aladdin and The Lion King. The people that went with me are my mom, dad, sister, and grandma and grandpa. That is my travel summary.

—Aidan S.

2

My favorite place to travel is Florida.

Florida was my favorite place to go to because it was very fun there what was very fun about it is the hotel was very nice and they had a water park.

Also they serve you breakfast if you wanted and they had a game room.

Another good thing about Florida is that the food places by the hotel there is this one place that I do not remember they had really good blueberry muffins and croissants.

And you also get a free car until you come back home.

My most liking part of this trip is the water park, at the water park they had huge slides that you go through and it was so fun. I went down the slide with my mom and dad and then I went down by myself it was super fun. Also they had a mini basketball court in the water sort of and a mini playground.

Overall going to Florida was super fun and I hope to go there again as soon as this quarantine is over with.

—Benjamin R.

I traveled to Wisconsin and it was pretty fun there.

I stayed 2 weeks and I loved it because lots of nights I would see lots of stars and they look so beautiful. I would like to live there because last time I went there, I went to see the ice castles— they were so cool and you can sled there on ice and it’s pretty fun. I picked Wisconsin because, in my opinion, it is so fun there so that is where I would love to go live. I love it there!

—Aaron D.

Summer 2021

My BFF: Yasmin

One day, in London, my best friend was ignoring me. I got mad and my BFF denied that she was mad. Then we both got mad and we turned our backs to each other. We started crying and we turned to see and we laughed at that. My BFF confessed that she was just trying to freak me out!

By Sofia F.

Wisconsin

My favorite place to travel is Wisconsin because most of my family lives there. My cousins, Brae and Ryan, my grandpa, my aunt and uncle, my great aunt, and my second cousin, Kira. Where I love going to in Wisconsin in Milwaukee. I enjoy skiing with my cousins. To get to my cousin’s house we drive for two hours. Then we drive to the skiing mountains, which takes about five minutes. When we go skiing we bring my cousins, my aunt, my uncle, my dad, my mom, my brother, and sometimes my grandpa. When we first get to the ski lodge we get our skiing gear on. Then we ski for about an hour. Then we go inside, drink hot chocolate, and ski for a couple more hours. We usually stay for the weekend because on every other day we have school.

When I’m there I don’t miss home at all. That’s why Wisconsin is my favorite.

—Elle R.

Travel

The best place I have ever been is Six Flags. It is an amazing amusement park where you can watch so many variety of shows, rides, and events. But if I could go anywhere I would go to Disney World. The reason why is because it has so many rides that I’ve seen but never ridden. I would get there by plane.

—Raul H-T

Summer 2021

This story is about a fictional Adventure to a new underwater restaurant.

One day on the news they announced a new restaurant/hotel under the sea; it’s about the same depth as going 1/20 the way down the Mariana Trench. The hotel is on a beach and the restaurant is under the water. My family decided to go there on a nice summer day. When we got there we checked into the hotel and they said the restaurant under the water opens at 5:00, so we hung around the beach and tried to spot the underwater restaurant. When it was 5:00 we got in a short line to get in a submarine so we could get to the underwater restaurant. Now this restaurant has the new technology for underwater pressure so it would be nice to go on a tour to know how it works and how it doesn’t crack under the pressure. When we got there, there was a tour on how the dome does not crack under the pressure of the water. Then we had food and the food was incredible because it was all fresh seafood sushi from all the fish under the ocean.

That concludes my fiction story. I hope you liked it.

The End —Charles C.

3

New Zealand

Sydney W.

If you could travel anywhere I would go to New Zealand. I chose this place because there are not a lot of Covid cases and it is a very nice place to live.

I would have to fly there and it will take 18 hours.

I would bring my family because who else would I bring. I would visit shrek the sheep grave and I would go to their beaches. I would move there it is a very good pace to live. I would miss where I used to live. I think that New Zealand would be a good place to live because there are so many things to do there.

—Beauregard D.

Traveling

I love exploring new places, learning different cultures, and sightseeing. I’ve been to many cities, but I’ve got to admit one of my favorite places to go is Niagara Falls, there are so many cool places to visit there! Me and my family used to go there every summer, so it brings back amazing memories. If I could go anywhere in the world, it would be Wuhan, China. My relatives live there, and it is my heritage.

I’ve heard it’s beautiful there!

Everywhere I go, I’d bring my family along. It just isn’t the same without them. I would also love to visit Toronto, my hometown, and State College, where I spent some of my summers.

—Rena H.

4

I like to travel to the hotel in Florida with my friends and family.

Japan

I want to go to Japan. I want to go to Japan because they have really good food. For example they have a noodle dish called ramen. So I want to go to Japan to see what ramen tastes like there. They also have an egg food market that I want to go to.

Those are two reasons why I want to go to Japan.

—Thaddeus D.

2020, the year of 4 different history events. So there is a lot to talk about for the year of 2020 but we are going to focus on something a little smaller like traveling! This year has been very rough for all of us more than others but one thing that people really miss is traveling. I know I miss it, some places we would like to go are Michigan, Disney World, etc. But there is always something to do at home so you don’t need to travel to have fun sometimes you just need some paper glue and scissors!

—Ava L.

Summer 2021

The best place I have ever traveled to is Mexico.

I went to the zoo and there were a lot of butterflies. I chose this place because I wanted to visit my grandmother and my grandfather.

I got there by airplane. I brought my brother and stayed like 2 or 3 months.

—Lizbeth V.

As you know with Covid-19 we could not go anywhere and I was sad but I could not do anything about it.

I was going to go to Jamaica and we had a huge house. I would also be able to see my cousins because I only see them in the summer, it goes by too quickly. If I were to go now I would bring my mom, sister, dad, brother and my mom’s sister. I have been to Jamaica only one time and it was amazing we went cliff diving and swimming 24/7.

We were thinking of staying for the whole summer to soak up all of the sun and fun.

Fun fact: Jamaica is the best country handling Covid-19. Those are all of the reasons I wanted to go to Jamaica.

—Alexa I.

If I can go anywhere on Earth or beyond where would I go and who would I take?

I would go to New York and would take Nalani and Michael.

—Nathan H.

Where I Want to Travel

By Maximus C. I want to travel all over the world, but one place I would really like to go to is the Great Pyramid of Giza, in Egypt. The Great Pyramid of Giza also known as The Great Pyramid of Khufu is the biggest pyramid in the Giza plateau, and the biggest in the world. This giant and ancient pyramid is a Wonder of the World.

Another reason I want to go there is because I want to take pictures of it. You’re not allowed to take pictures inside the pyramids, but you can outside.

Summer 2021

If you can go anywhere where would you go?

I would travel to Las Vegas. And why would I go there? Because I want to visit Paris Hotel and the Eiffel Tower.

But you have no idea how much I would miss my home then. Oh, that velvety couch, that smell of popcorn while watching a movie, and the wonderful fluffy soap. But then in Las Vegas, I believe, there is also some beautiful lighting, high-quality hotels, and many, MANY, casinos (I am not excited about that too much, but my parents might like it). But no matter how hard I try, I never found out which one is better.

Well, there is only one way to find out: GO TO LAS VEGAS! —Riddhika G.

Niagara Falls

One place I want to visit is Niagara Falls. I want to go there because it is really beautiful and interesting. I find it interesting that Niagara Falls is in Canada and the United States, so that means there’s a Canadian side and an American side. For Christmas, my Mom gave me a book about Niagara Falls. In the book, I thought Niagara Falls was so beautiful. For example, I love the colors of the lights at night.

There are all kinds of colors! At night you might see every color of the rainbow. I hope I get to go there one day to see the lights in person.

—Madeline I.

5

The best place where I traveled was in my mind because in my mind I can imagine and travel anywhere I want to. What I did there is that I imagined that I was in a place called “Imaginationland” and I went to the rooftop of a school and then I remember seeing a Cheeto river pass by in the streets. If I could travel anywhere else, I would travel to Mexico or California. I chose these places because I have cousins and family members that live there that I have never met before. I would get there In a plane or in a car. I would bring my family with me to help me meet people and go to other places there.

I think that I would stay there for about the whole summer, and I would come back 2 weeks before school starts because I want to have fun there and have time to meet relatives or cousins that I have not met before. What I would miss most about school is that I would miss my home, my house, and I would miss going outside in the summer, going to the pool, or being able to talk to my friends.

— Alondra M.

The best vacation I’ve ever had was also the last vacation I had before COVID-19. We went to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida but, our hotel wasn’t the parks hotel it was a hotel that was also a WATERPARK!!!!!! They had slides and pools and lazy rivers, and one night they even played a poolside movie! It was so fun. We also got to spend time at Universal, where I got a magic Harry Potter wand. It was so fun to walk around the park. Honestly, I don’t like roller coasters all that much but we did go on a few rides that were very scary.

—Jayleigh J.

6

Hello!

I am Olivia. And if I could go anywhere, I’d go to Paris on a girls trip with my best friends.

First of all, going to Paris would be great! There are so many reasons I’d go. And here’s one of them! The food. Paris has invented so many of our favorite foods! My favorites are macarons, baguettes, and delicious donuts!

Next, the sites! I would love to watch the sunset off of the Eiffel Tower. Also, I would love to walk by the river. Paris is just such a beautiful city.

Lastly, the fashion! I’ve always loved Parisian styles. Also, they have the capital of fashion there!

Think of all the people who started making clothes there! Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Louis Vuitton, and Yves Saint Laurent!

I hope you can now see why Paris is the best place to go! The only bad part? The plane ride.

—Olivia F.

If I could travel anywhere I would go to Florida!

The reason I would go to Florida is because there are so many fun beaches and warm weather!

I would bring my bathing suit, my beach ball, and a bucket and shovel to make sand castles.

But before actually being there I’d have to go on a plane.

I would first bring something to play with while I’m on the plane so I don’t get bored. I would also get some drawing materials to keep me busy. Eventually time would pass by and I’d get there. That’s what I would do if I could travel anywhere in the world!

—Emily M.

Summer 2021

All the places are the most relaxing places in the farms and crops area. I’ve been to the crops area— it is just the calm breeze and no loud noises. Just the sun, the land, and no light pollution to stop you from seeing the beautiful state of the sky.

Where do I want to go?

I would like to go to Navy Pier—it has a variety of games and is a place to have fun. It has minigolf and arcades and the best places to go for food, games, and stores to shop in.

How would I get there?

I would get there by train and I would probably need a map because it is Downtown Chicago and I might get lost because of how big the city is and I would not like that.

Who am I going to bring with me?

I would bring my brother and my dad because I would always go with them to Michigan and maybe my cousins. I would not bring my little brother because he gets annoying. He likes pointing at places and screaming and also he gets lost because he is one of those people who goes everywhere (no problem with that it’s just that we will lose him because he runs everywhere).

When I get there what am I going to do?

When I get there I am going to do some arcade games and some minigolf. I will ride the Ferris wheel and have a race to see who can get out of the maze of mirrors. I will also get on some rides and check in the museum and if there are fireworks, I would watch them.

How long am I going to be there?

I am going to be honest—I would be there more than 10 hours maybe. There is a bunch of stuff to do at Navy Pier and I want to go on most of the rides and play a lot of games.

—Eduardo R.

Summer 2021

I like to travel to the beach. I like to make sand castles and play in the sand.

—Mason H.

My dream vacation would be to go to LEGO WORLD. I would get there by a lego train. I’d bring my whole family with me. I would buy as many legos as I can. I’d want to go there because it would be like Legoland but bigger. If there is Legoland and Disney World then why not Lego World?

I would stay there for a YEAR. It would be COOL to go there.

—Conrad R.

Travel

My favorite place to travel is Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) because that is where my whole family is from and we have really good food and everything is beautiful. While I was there we went to the biggest pool in Bosnia and we went to a place named Bas-Carsia. If I could travel anywhere I would go to Florida, New York, or Canada. I choose these places because they are beautiful and they have really pretty views. If I was there I would go on mountains in towers and in pretty stores. I would stay about a week or two.

I would miss my clean bed and toys.

—Sajra S.

7

My favorite place to travel is the beach.

I like going in the car with my mom and friends.

—Ameer L.

My best trip I ever had was the trip to Japan, Kyoto and Nara. I saw the Horyuji Temple, which is thought to be the oldest wooden building. Also, I went to Heian-kyo and Heijo-kyo which were the capital city of Japan for a long time until the 1800s. Now I want to go to Kiyomizudera, a Buddhist temple which is known by the huge stage that it has. I also recommend you to see Japanese castles. They are beautiful!

—Taisei K.

My favorite place I have ever traveled to is Mexico for Christmas one year.

I went to the pool, played in the ocean, drank smoothies and I hung out with some of my family. If I could travel anywhere in the world I would probably go to a land that I created. I would choose this place because I could do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted to. I would get there by traveling on a spaceship. I would bring all of my family and my best friend with me cause they are special to me.

I would swim in a pool, get any food that I wanted. I really don’t know what else I would do, just whatever popped into my head. I would stay there just for a month because doing whatever I wanted could get a little boring after a while. I would miss sleeping in my own bed and waking up in my room.

—Ella L.

8

Mexico is my favorite place to travel to! Firstly, there’s the food, the resort I stay at has a taco bar, breakfast buffet, swim up bar, and more!

Secondly, there’s the pool, the resort has a lazy river and a BIG pool with a swim up bar. Lastly, there’s the animals, there are peacocks, iguanas, and fish that me and my friends gave names to!

My friends, family, and I had a lot of fun doing all of those things so that’s why Mexico is my favorite place to travel to.

—Owen M. My family likes to travel a lot. Usually we travel about 8 times a year, it is really fun. But one of my favorite places to travel (not including Disney World) is an airplane. I love being up in the sky in those comfy chairs thinking about what I am going to do when I get to wherever I am going. (It is usually sleeping) I also LOVE watching movies all the way there. The food though is not the best. And I don’t know why but I find the smell of the planes comforting and the view amazing. Those are some of my favorite things about airplanes. I hope you enjoyed them.

—Zoey P.

I went to Punta Cana, and it was my favorite vacation!

Punta Cana had so many fun things to do! I wish I could be there every day!

First of all, I went with 4 of my friends! We got to eat breakfast together, swim together, go into the lazy lake together, eat lunch and dinner together, I’m surprised I didn’t get sick of them!

Second, there was a LAZY LAKE at the hotel, and I and my friend were going against the current! It was so hard but so fun!

Lastly, the food was good! But the dessert was GREAT! The employees were nice too!

If you’re going on vacation, I recommend you go to Punta Cana with your friends. It was definitely my favorite vacation.

—Haylin L.

Summer 2021

The best place I’ve ever been was Texas.

I chose this place because I have the most memories of Texas. We got there by renting a white van. We were there for about 2-3 days. The people who went with me were my Mom, Dad, Me, and a bunch of other friends from church. The best part of being there was that I got to hang out with a bunch of old friends. But that was like 5-6 years ago so I do not remember much but it was still the best trip I have ever been on. ­—Zoe C.

I really miss going on trips to see family, but there is one place I want to go but have never been there before. I have never been to India and I really want to go because there is so much family there that I have never seen. Also, what makes me want to go even more is because my parents always tell me fun and exciting things that happen over there. There are holidays like Holi, the festival of color where you wear all white and throw colored powder at each other and Diwali the festival of lights where you turn on all the lights in your house, do prayers to God, and do fireworks! My parents were really excited to show me India in December 2020 but then covid started and the numbers were really bad so we did not get to go.

Hopefully I get to go soon and can not wait to see what it is like!

—Ariya M.

Summer 2021

I would like to go to a place with my friend Ari where we could play video games all day. Then I would want to go to a place far far away by myself and just read well to be more specific books that I would want to read. It would have a beach that I could go to any time when I wanted to. Funny this place will have nothing bad nothing will be negative and infinite ice cream and I won’t become fat.

—David W.

RV Trip: A True Story

By: Cole J. I went to South Dakota, Custer State Park The best vacation I’ve ever taken was when I went to Custer State Park in South Dakota. I went on the trip with my family last summer. The first thing that we did was take a RV trip and we had to travel a lot of miles to get there. It turned out to be 5 full nights, no stopping to rest. My uncle drove and he got 3 hours of sleep in all of the 5 nights. But the trip was fun and we stayed 12 days there and got to see Mt. Rushmore.

I also got to see and pet a prairie dog which is a gopher.

Carter S.

I like to travel to the beach with my entire family.

We like to make sand castles.

The best place I have ever traveled is Italy. One of the best things about Italy is the food, they have really good pizza and pasta, and a lot of other good stuff. When I went there, my family went to an amusement park one time, and the next time we went there we went to the water park part of it. I would stay there for about 2 weeks because it’s really fun. I would have my mom, brother, and stepdad with me (who is from Italy). We would get there by plane which would take around 8 hours.

—Katy B.

9

Travel

During the pandemic a lot has been going on. One thing we have been really wanting to do is travel. Lots of tickets have been canceled because of covid. But sometimes miracles happen. I know for sure It happens to me! My first flight was going to Morocco! I was really scared because of what has been going on. “Will I get sick?” “How many people will be there?” I just wished for the best. I got through it and I was at my destination. I was very glad being able to see my family. I had a great time. There’s always things to do at home though, you just have to use your imagination.

—Alia A-A

My Summer Vacation In Croatia

Three years ago, when I was only 7 years old and still lived in Russia we went on a Summer vacation to Croatia with my friend. His family arrived there first and then after a few days we were there too. We traveled by plane and when we got to the house we rented for those three weeks we were supposed to be there, I realized that we were so close to the sea and could go to the beach almost every day. The water was really salty but so clear because instead of sand there were pebble-stones. It was really fun swimming in the water but the place also had beautiful nature. A lot of times in the morning and afternoon we were at the beach and in the evening going for long walks. I think it was the best Summer vacation I had!

—Elina B.

I Want To Go To London

I choose London because while over there I want to use my British accent. I want to take my mom and my brother Jaelan. There are so many things we would do in London, like see Big Ben and see the queen’s guards standing outside the gates.

We would stay at a nice hotel with a pool. We would relax by the pool and have a spot of tea! I can’t wait to go to London.

—Chase V.

10

Summer 2021

The overall best place I have ever traveled to is Alaska. I say this because I went there in August of 2019 on a cruise ship and it was awesome!

One thing that makes Alaska so cool is the glaciers. They are beautiful, especially if you are on the water. Another thing is the animals. There are so many, including whales, harbor seals, moose, arctic foxes, bison, reindeer, and bald eagles, and that’s only the tip of the iceberg! The final thing that I’m going to mention about Alaska is that the small fishing towns are super cool, and there’s so much to do. For instance, in Ketchikan there is a shop that has all of these carvings made out of fossils, then outside there is lots of space to run around, and there is a restaurant that serves locally caught fish. My point is that Alaska is the best place that I have ever been, and I can’t wait to go back!

—Marianna I.

One unforgettable trip for me was going on a cruise ship with my family to multiple islands in the Caribbean. I remember flying to Miami because it took two flights to get there, but the second flight was only 30 minutes. The cruise ship my parents and I went on was called MSC Cruises. What made it even better for me was that I went on this cruise right before the coronavirus hit, so I could have one last fun trip before quarantine. And, the cruise was very fun! There were pools which I made sure to go to every day, no matter what, because I really like swimming, and, there was a buffet, which I love about every cruise ship because it has everything you would ever ask for, from cake to salads. And, the lobby looked awesome. I also really liked the room because they were very spacious! And my absolute favorite part was the slides. They were super fast, and scary in a good way. I liked everything about that cruise. In my opinion, this specific trip was very fun.

—Vidya P. Summer 2021

Hi my name is Tristan and I am very wary about travel. Mostly because I am scared that the plane would crash land. But one thing to remember is to know where you are going and know what you will do so you don’t just waste time. But probably the most scary experience was when I was lost in the airport. And when I was younger was that I did not like how loud it was on the airplanes.

—Tristan L-S

My favorite place to travel is Disney World.

I like the fun rides and I like to go on the airplane.

—Caden P. The best place I have traveled is Florida because it’s hot. You get to do what you can’t do in the winter. I went there because I have a cheerleading competition and it’s super fun to compete there. If I could travel anywhere I would go to Guatemala, Puerto Rico, or Salvador because my mom and dad are from there. I would get there by car so my dog would be comfortable.

I would bring my dog, mom, dad, grandmas from both sides of mom and dad, and brothers. I would hang out with my family. I would stay for a week because I need to meet family that I have never met learn to speak Spanish. I would miss playing video games and family that lives not too far from my home, sports and friends.

—Sophie A.

11

My favorite vacation ever is when I went to Florida. I went to Delray Beach in Florida with my cousins to visit my grandparents. We went to the beach, swam in the ocean and rode the waves. I also went swimming at my grandma’s country club; we would also eat lunch there.

The best day of my vacation is when I went to Delray Beach and I went to a cool place called It’s Sugar, which sells really big delicious candies. That’s why this was the best vacation I ever had!

—Ethan S.

.

I like to go to Atlanta because they have good food and a fun beach there too.

—Mikira S.

The best place I have ever traveled is the Bahamas.

The best place to travel in my opinion is the Bahamas.

This is my opinion because I went to the Bahamas on a Disney cruise. It was a lot of fun. When you go to the pool there is a huge tv that is like 100 ft long. It was very nice and me and my sister loved it.

We went with our grandparents, the islands in the Bahamas are very cool.

There are so many shops and restaurants but I don’t really like seafood. It has a weird taste to me. That is why I think the Bahamas is the best place to travel.

—Oliver P.

12

In April when it’s spring break, me, my mom and my dad go down to Florida. It is very peaceful in my opinion and very hot, very very hot. My grandma and grandpa own a little penthouse in a condo building in Florida. We go there every year and it’s probably my favorite place to go to. I usually take a plane to go to Florida and it’s an easy 2 hours, but when it comes to my grandparents, it takes them about two to three days because they drive. Usually they stay down there for about 2 months and I stay down there for about 2 weeks. It’s pretty fun, but it goes by pretty fast. I do like to travel! I really do think it’s a fun experience to take a break with my family and friends!

—Steven S.

Vacation

Have you ever gone on vacation and forgotten something? Well I know I have and it was awful.

I was so annoyed. I was going to the Milwaukee park zoo in winter. You might be wondering what I forgot. Well, I think you’ll figure it out. OH NO, I was unpacking and I forgot something! UH OH. I had to wear shorts in winter. I got home and was glad to be wearing pants again.

—Alice D.

I really miss traveling back when I was 6. My family went on international trips once every year, but due to COVID-19 I cannot anymore.

My favorite place to visit was in Korea as I got to see my family and there’s also a lot to do in Korea. One of my favorite places to visit in Korea was the kids park and sledding hill (in the park) there was ziplining, sledding, indoors garden and a park. There were also a lot of historical places and I like reading about history my favorite historical place was Seodaemun Prison when the Japanese conquered Korea it was built as a labor camp. But my favorite part was the gaming cafe right across the street next to my grandma’s house. Gaming cafes are places with gaming devices made for gaming.

—Chan Yu K.

Summer 2021

My Dream Vacation For After Covid-19 At this moment if I could go anywhere in the world I would go to Japan and here are my reasons why.

My first reason to go to Japan is that I want to see Japanese tuner cars and I also want to go to the Nissan museum. I want to see these kinds of cars because they are very modified, for example some of them have widebody kits or cool under glows. I want to see the Nissan museum because I want to see the history of this car company.

My second reason that I want to go to Japan is that I want to go to a cat cafe. I want to go to a cat cafe because you can interact with them and play with them, sometimes you can feed them.

My last reason that I want to go to Japan is the video game culture.

Many video game consoles and computer parts originated from companies in Japan. For example Sony started the playstation line. But the main consoles I want to try are the retro consoles.

These are a few of my reasons to go to Japan. I hope you enjoyed and thank you for listening.

—Codrin A.

Juelz C.

I like to travel to the movies in the car with my family.

I wish I could go to Mexico again. I am going to tell you why I want to go there again.

First, there is an ocean there so you can play at the beach all day.

Second, when I went there we had our own private pool.

Next, you can walk around and see all of the things they have like bracelets, ice cream, fish, having fish eat at your callus and get henna tattoos like I did.

Lastly, you can go to restaurants and have different food like Mexican food.

I hope this makes you want to go to Mexico. I’m sure it makes me want to go again.

Sincerely, Teddy W.

Summer 2021

If I could go anywhere in the whole world I would go to Florida, because Florida has lots of fun activities. I’ve even gone there 3 times! These are some activities and things I’ve done in Florida. First, is Disney World. It’s one of my favorite activities because there are so many things to do. You can go on rides, eat your favorite foods, meet your idols or favorite people, and much more. Next, is a very nice and calm activity but also very healthy! It is swimming in the pool or at the beach. It’s really cool because you can play with your friends in the water, play catch, and most importantly swim! Swimming is also really good because you can get exercise. Last, is spending time with family. My grandparents usually live in Florida so sometimes we go there as a family trip! It’s really relaxing to be with your family and spend time with them especially for the holidays! We usually eat lunch, play games, and go swimming all together. It makes me feel happy and loving being with my family. These activities are so fun it makes me want to live in Florida to do all these activities over and over again.

—Michelle A.

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Cielo C.

If I could go anywhere I would go to Saturn! I would take my family with me and my friends. Saturn is where I would choose because I really would like to see what it looks like up close. It also would be really cool to see the rings that go around Saturn. I would probably stay on Saturn for about 1 day because it would probably get too cold.

Next, it would be super fun to have zero gravity because I would float everywhere!

Missing my home would be hard but I would only be staying there for a day!

—Audrey M.

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If I could travel anywhere in the world it would be to another planet out of our solar system, here’s why. There are so many places in outer space away from our solar system that could possibly help us in the future, with finding other human-like life forms. Maybe not like aliens but other organisms or bugs. Or if there is a place in space that’s farther than us in technology.

And since it would most likely be light years away from us if we traveled there for example if it were 5 million light years away. That planet would have been like that 5 million years ago. Cool right? I think so, that’s why I would travel out of our solar system to another planet.

—Stella B.

The best place that I have ever traveled is the pool. The people who came with me were my family and some friends. I did some diving. I had some ice cream. That was the best place that I have ever traveled.

—Azaria H. If I could go anywhere in the world I would go to Disney World. I chose this place because my mom and I have been wanting to go there to see the castle and because my mom loves Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

Also because my little brother loves Mickey Mouse and Disney characters. How I would get to Disney World is by airplane. Who I would bring with me is my family.

What I would do there is go in rides and play around with my family. I would stay in Disney World for a week or 3 days. What I would miss most about being home is seeing my pet fishes.

—Stephanie L.

Summer 2021

Amazon Jungle

If I could travel anywhere I would travel to The Amazon Jungle because there are a lot of animals, plants, and breathtaking sights. It is located in Brazil, South America. I would travel there because I love animals so much. I could see a lot of birds like the pelican for example. I would also like to see the tigers, monkeys, lizards, and dolphins. Since otters are one of my favorite animals, I would get to see the giant otter. I also would like to visit the Amazon Jungle because of the beautiful plants. I would see roses, tulips, sunflowers, banana trees, apple trees, and a lot of different types of trees. I would also like to see the breathtaking sights. I would see giant blue waterfalls, and pretty sunsets and sunrises. That is why I would like to travel to the Amazon Jungle.

—Ava K.

My Trip to Mars

I want to go into outer space. I would visit Mars because I think it is a beautiful place. I would get there on a rocket ship, and I would take my Zuriah with me. While on Mars, my sister and I would look for aliens. We would have fun on Mars.

—Micah C.

If I could travel anywhere on Earth I would do Dallas Texas because all of my family on my moms lives there. I would fly there and I would stay for two weeks. I would stay for two weeks because I would miss my friends at home. I would bring my mom, dad, my sisters Naomi, Eliza, Amelia both my grandmas and grandpas. That is where I would travel who I would bring with me and why I would go there.

—Evan M.

Summer 2021

Once, I went camping in Michigan with all my family. We went and picked blueberries and we also played volleyball and la vuelta al mundo. There was a deer where we were camping that we’ve known since it was little. Now she is a big girl and she even has babies, I think, because she doesn’t come around much anymore.

She comes only for the blueberries. We also made s’mores and some of them turned out pretty bad. Other people kept blowing up some fireworks and they were screaming all around and we couldn’t go to sleep. They were playing with the ball and they kept hitting our tent and they even hit my little sister in her head with the ball. The next day we all went to get more blueberries. Every time we go to Michigan, we head out at 4:00 a.m. Also, my cousin comes with his BB gun and we practice our skills.

—Helene R-B

TRAVELING

By Evan B. Traveling to different countries and states is fun. You can go to sunny beaches to surf on, or snowy hills to sled and ski. You can visit family and friends by taking the plane, or driving to a location. You can even go to a hotel for a few days to relax.

There are many things that you can do to travel.

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Where is the best place you have ever traveled? Why? What did you do there?

The best place I have ever traveled is Mexico then a pool with fun stuff but was far far away from Mexico I guess was part of Mexico but far but all my family from Mexico went too. Not only my mom and sis but my whole family and then we ate gorditas verdece at the road. It was good mmm. Then on the middle of the road we also buy food also gas putting on the car I forgot if they did but then Where in the pools and was so so so cute and pretty beautiful big mountains of green colors of grass trees and water everywhere was pretty cool then we try went inside but was taking too long to pay in to we went and HOt Hot water then cold water and we also stay for 4 days with houses hotel I guess is not hotel but houses but then I mostly hate the bee outside of the house :( that’s scary.

Next day the 2 day is when it was time to eat but eat little to get to the pools but noo -_- I had to wait into stomach get down the food when I ate just a little and I was not hungry.

Still that way I ate a little and ol so because HuRRY POOL. Then I wanted to go to my mom because she was far away from me and mostly because I have less pool than Chicago big pools -_- but my mom have a bigger one and with mi cousins oh and I am NOT ALONE I am with my sis, two nvm she is 14-15 to go this pool,1 girl one boy and I forgot. But I saw my big sis went now I have everybody except sis sorry but I went to my mom and asked Can I go Plz ? mom:*ignores* but when I said I am going down to the pool and just saying I know how to swim oh and I did not talk English is Spanish anyways mom: be careful. *mind*- ok now u listening - then I went down and the pool was bigger than me anyways mostly that the days what I did except the 4 day of pool was that there was a thing that is a string straight to the last part then I have to get myself from the string not the string but something to put your hand to not get hurt but I was nerves into they push me to go straight at the swing then fall on the

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water but don’t think my mom did not put the camera and record because she did she has a video but now she has a new phone but that was months ago like 7 or 8 a long time so idk she has the video but don’t make fun of me or nothing but I got burn from my body even if I put sunscreen on from Chicago or idk if I did or not and also I don’t know if they have sunscreen in the place also I like when it rain with the hot water because it makes it white clouds like for example when you have something hot and is getting white hot cloud I guess that will help but I did not touch the rain I hade close to a tree with the pool to not get sick with the rain also oh and I was on the age 8 when it happen. Somewhere elses rock mountains that I went almost on top top but my mom is not scared at the time the top top she is looking down but now she so scared but was so pretty was mostly far from Mexico wait I forgot that not Mexico is California with my other cousins I think first I went Arizona then I went to California hmmm Oh YES I member it was Arizona then California but was really really fun Mexico pool and another place that I forgot in Mexico and then Arizona with rock mountains when I was like 6 and beach with a cocoa tree with no cocoa Oh and all my life I now how to swim scenes I was 3 mi mom show me how to not breath on the water and my mom said I was cute 0-0 but my sis learn scene 12 years old will she knows little little little now how to nvm but little she know but it was really hard to show her because om she said no is because NO but it’s ok my dad show him and my mom how but me mom thinks that I am choking on the water but she gets me up is when she choked me jk -just kidding but yea she said that II am choking but I am not when I under the water.

If you could travel anywhere (on Earth or beyond) where would you go?

If I could travel anywhere on Earth I will go to Disneyland because never went before because cousins first or somewhere cool not scary funny science maybe Hollywood is cool

I feel like most famous people live there Oh and I say why.

Who would you bring with you I will bring dad because he could never traveled Mexico never will he was born Mexico but idk he can’t but my grama not because I now they don’t like traveled but Mexico and also grandpa they just want home oh and my cousins that 4 people from me is mom dad sis me and 5 people from cousins WAIT!! My baby brother or sister 5 months ;) so is 5 people from me and 5 people from cousins is 10 whole family group the one of my cousins is a man dad a women mom a big brother 2 big brother last 5 years old my sweet cousin she grown so much ;) OH AND SHE PLAYS A LOT ALOT OF TOYS WITH US ME AND SIS!! YaY!!! She has a lot of toys but when she was little she said let’s play but in my mind I was like maybe later sowwy and I tell her wait and act I am distracted with something else into she leave tell my mom and she says she doesn’t want to play with me and my mom sis PLAY WITH HER. and 2 big brother GAMIng that it and real life gaming he lets me play but nah it’s ok if he Gaming and telling me play because I suck but oh ,nvm my mom doesn’t have her games :( Whatever the next is first big brother he is tik tok only and scream movie and we also play like scream but we don’t really play a lot most less and we talk or see movies.

3 day I want to stay because first you don’t know the place and learn new stuff in the 3 days because it could be bad and is more the three days weird for the question How long would you stay and why?

What would you miss most about being home?

Home grama grandpa and bed and FOod

—Damaris F.

Summer 2021