Wordworks 2021

Wordworks

Wordworks

Literary Magazine Volume 5 Spring 2021

Editor-in-Chief: Student Editor:

Brendan McEachern, Sixth Grade Language Arts Wyatt Gockerman, Ama Karikari, Johnny Sumnar

Graphic Design & Page Layout:

Megan McGrath

Special Thanks to the Following Faculty Members for Guiding Our Students in Writing & Art:

Hilary Carvitti, Third & Fourth Grade Art Meghan Cole, Fifth Grade Language Arts Megan Druffel, Third Grade Language Arts Samantha England, Fifth & Sixth Grade Art Katy Gallagher, Seventh Grade Language Arts Megan Gardner, Third Grade Language Arts Frances Keller, Fourth Grade Language Arts Stacey Remke, Third Grade Language Arts Paula B. Yarnell-Sundermann, Fifth & Seventh Grade Art

Welcome to our fifth issue of Wordworks. This magazine contains one piece of writing from students in grades three to seven. This issue contains our largest amount of student writers with a grand total of 242 writing pieces. Each student is showcasing his or her writing ability in a variety of prompts ranging from describing a sport in detail, biographies, book reviews, creative fiction, to original poems. In order to display the steady writing progression by grade, our staff has attempted to keep the author’s voice as authentic as possible without too many editorial changes. Many of these pieces were condensed to “an excerpt” for the sole purpose of fitting into this magazine. I hope this snippet with give you a strong taste of what the author was writing. The ultimate goal of Wordworks is to ultimately show student writing talent and many of our writing responses across five grades at The Summit. Congratulations to all of this year’s writers.

Enjoy our fifth issue!

Brendan McEachern 1

The Summit Country Day School

Authors Max Adams 27 Parker Adams 61 Henry Ahouse 67 Anna Baker 66 Haley Baker 71 Jack Baker 21 Jadon Barnes 45 Christian Basler 46 Abby Bastos 21, 79 Megan Bastos 28 Javi Beatty 17 Audrey Beltran 22, 79 Olivia Beltran 37 Leah Berhanu 23, 79 Noah Berhanu 12 Danny Beyerbach 69 Lexy Beyerbach 43 Sophia Blackshaw-Brown 24 Quinn Bohmer 15 Eileen Bolan 70, 77 Emily Bolan 59 Daniel Borman 27 Huck Bortz 35, 78 Ava Boyer 42, 77 Braden Bricking 64 Beckett Brinkman 54 Sydney Brinkman 28, 80 Sophie Brouwer 13 Katie Buckius 53 Liam Buckius 8 Maddie Burns 33 Logan Butler 42 Kenyon Byrd 62 Jefferson Campbell 40 Natalie Campbell 54 Manuel Cantillo

13, 78 Beckham Carrasquillo 41 Cannon Casey 44 Callie Chadwell 63 Coleton Chadwell 25 Griffin Charville 25 Finley Chavez 53, 78 Gabby Chavez 56, 76 Jillian Chavez 53 Forrest Cloran 48, 78 Hana Conte 71

Evie Cooper 68 Rowan Cosgrove 12 Sebastien Cox 75 Tyrone Cox 49 Meghana Curran 74 Evie Curt 55, 77 Jackson Curt 18, 80 Devlan Daniel 16 Xavier Davis 72 Tessa Dennemann 35, 79 Jack Devitt 25 Kiersten Diaz 43 Sabrina Diaz 13 Ava Dona 64 Caleb Driessen 24 Iggy Dwyer 11 Kayla Dwyer 30 Santi Dwyer 63 Kylie Eastman 58 Lexi Eastman 6 Allison Ebken 4 Faye Edmondson 29 Olivia Elfenbein 30 Jack Erbeck 58 Bennett Fager 59 Lily Fecher 22 Carolyn Federle 43 Liam Fildes 25 James Finkleman 4, 76 Lily Finkleman 44 Molly Fitzpatrick 42 Callie Fox 32, 80 Dillon Fox 26 Will Fox 68 Aaron Fraley 36 Miles Friedman 73 Kyan Gatewood 50 Edward Gay 30 Jack Geers 45 Caroline Gehring 39 Marianna Grace Gehring 16 Vivian Gibbs 34 Tyler Gier 60, 78 Rosie Gieseke 34 Théo Ginggen 36 Paolo Girandola 38 2

Elise Goebel 50 Elliot Gockerman 51 Nate Gockerman 18 Wyatt Gockerman 49, 79 Asela Goico 9 Grace Golden 26 Eliana Hafner 43 Mabel Hartmann 48, 77 Charles Healy 57 Bebe Heekin 60 Jake Heekin 70 Jacob Heimbouch 37 Max Heimbouch 65 Jack Hendrix 75 Tuula Hicks 72 Alexander Hill 9 Sam Hinton 29 Elsa Hobbins 26 Tom Hobbins 73 Laney Hodge 38 James Hodge 12 Owen Hodge 65 Ben Hofmann 10 Blake Hollenbeck 74 Henry Holsinger 17 Emmett Hood 56 Gael Huguet 52 Marcel Huguet 34 Annabelle Huttenbauer 51 Baer Huttenbauer 21 Marguerite Jackson 41 Sammy Jacobs-Ramey 49 Charlie Jenkins 27, 77 Rylee Jewell 28 RJ Johnson 62 Quentin Jones 60 Zaina Kamran 73, 80 Ama Karikari 50 Callie Karageorges 15, 80 Stefen Karageorges 23, 77 Kadyn Keeney 32 Vivie Kate Keeney 8, 76 Gabby Knight 11 Bennett Kreeger 20 Abby Kroner 45 Kate Kroner 16

Wordworks

Paige Kropp Samuel Krulcik Gauri Kulkarni Maren Lafley Andrew Lam Isaac Lam Owen Lee Sophia Lei Cammy Lorentz Connor Love Ellen Love Josie Lyons Leo Lyons Vivie Lyons Dylan MacDonald Ryan MacDonald Shriyan Masineni Leelah Mason Milan Matarazzo Claudio Matos Aliviah McCarter Jasmine McCarter Emma McCormick Collin McGuire Austin Miller Landon Miller Lila Miller Wyatt Miller Anne Marie Misrach Peter Misrach Hannah Mitchell Dominic Montaque Izze Montaque Graham Moore Malcolm Moore Meera Mullapudi Priya Mullapudi Beatrice Nery Estelle Neyer Edward Neyra Natalie Neyra Nolan O’Brien Nico Palacio-Vega Evelyn Paulsen Andreas Pagdadis Dallas Parker

19 11 66 56 29 57, 77 45 70 28 17 33, 80 55 8 15 61 9 54 32 48 75, 77 67 64 15 7 44 68 39 18, 79 72, 77 59 22 35 37, 76 51 19, 78 14 52, 76 62, 79 10 41 45 51 63 10, 76 66 5

Abigayle Penote 35 Andrea Pérez Sánchez 57 Rebeca Pérez Sánchez 22 Finn Pichler 11 Rocco Quintero 17 Piers Rackley 54 Chloe Ragland 40 Alec Rambow 14 Giulia Rassi 30 Kaitlyn Rassi 33 Nick Rassi 52 Enya Renfrow 5 Allie Reuter 63 Caroline Reynolds 65 Jack Reynolds 5 Shaun Rice 69 Madie Richard 20 Landen Richter 8 Charles Ritch 19 Jack Roberts 55 Jordan Roebel 20 Connor Schaaf 46 Clare Schaefer 67 Emy Schurmann 69 Alejandro Sharp 9 Katherine Shuey 6, 79 Cleá Sinno 14, 76 Nabil Sinno 55 Kayden Smith 47 Madelyn Smith 47 Alice Sofia 37 Dylan Sougstad 59 Parker Sougstad 26 Benjamin Sprengard 4, 76 Samuel Sprengard 46 Brian Sullivan 23 Molly Sullivan 31 Johnny Sumnar 58, 79 Sophia Surwiyo 31 Sabian Swan 31 Sebastian Swan 40 John Trokan 39, 78 Arianna Trimm 7 Louis Uy 52 Ceci Viveros Valdepeña 7, 80 Lucy Viveros Valdepeña 49 3

Mia Warden Zachary West Anna Wiltshire Claire Wiltshire Harper Wood Teagan Wood Sasha Woodard Molly Workman Borui Xue Lilly Yarnell TJ Yarnell Cailyn Youtsey

Cover Art

Haley Baker Logan Butler Callie Chadwell Meghana Curran Iggy Dwyer Liam Fildes Vivian Gibbs Grace Golden Andrew Lam Estelle Neyer Nabil Sinno

42, 78 56 24 74 6 67 24 71 61, 76 32, 78 36 38

The Summit Country Day School

Abolish Exams – an excerpt Allison Ebken Gr. 7 Do you want to take exams, and have it ruin everything you’ve worked for? Some might say that exams help let the teacher know how much you understood; however, they end up doing more harm than good. Exams end up giving students more anxiety both before and after taking them. They also cause more fragmented sleep and can lower students’ chances of getting into a school they want to go to. We should terminate exams because it can cause an overwhelming amount of stress, badly impact sleep cycles, and it can impact education if ideal scores are not achieved.

The first reason exams should no longer be given is because it can cause a devastating amount of stress and anxiety. In 984 students, 45.1% of them reported depressive symptoms due to pre-exam stress (Yildirim, Ergene, and Munir 35). Another study found that the lower the person’s self-assessment is, the higher their examination anxiety is (Savytska 1). This means that the worse they feel about themselves, the more exam anxiety they have. Many of the studies found that men had 40.6% prevalence of depressive symptoms while women had 49.5% (Yildirim, Ergene, and Munir 39). Exams cause anxiety and, in some cases, it can trigger an anxiety attack, which is why we should abolish them.

About the Summit James Finkleman Gr. 3 Is your school over 100 years old? Mine is! It’s old, and because of that it has a lot of history. That is what you will learn about today! Summit is 130 years old! The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur started Summit and taught there first. Saint Julie was a sister of Notre Dame. The education at Summit is amazing. If you are in 3rd grade and are smart enough to do 8th grade math, you will be taught 8th grade math! The teachers have amazing methods of teaching too. They make learning fun! Also, the teachers are super kind too. Since classrooms are smaller, the teachers pay more attention to the individual students.

The students at Summit are so nice. On my first day, I did not know anything about Summit. I did not know the uniform, the students, the rules, and the teachers. I didn’t know anything about Summit.

At most schools the kids are not so nice, yet the nice students here helped me a ton. Lastly, at Summit, the teachers pick where you sit, so you meet new kids, and you never have to worry about where to sit!

These reasons are why the Summit is such a great place to be! Bonus Summit fact: When is the worst time of the school year? The end!

Activity: Basketball – an excerpt Benjamin Sprengard Gr. 3 Basketball is a very popular sport in the United States. It is a sport for all ages and is an active game.

Defense is one of the most important parts of basketball. When you play defense, you shuffle your feet and follow your opponent. You want to keep your arms out. You are trying to keep the other team from scoring. You must be careful not to hit the other player’s arm while guarding or you will receive a foul.

If you have a good defense, the offense will not be able to score. Scoring helps your team win. When you shoot, you want to point your four fingers to the rim and get your hand under the ball. You then want to make a good release toward the basket. A jump shot is worth two points. There is also a threepoint shot. The most points at the end of the game wins.

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Wordworks

African Wild Dogs Enya Renfrow Gr. 4 The African wild dog, also known as the painted dog, is one of the most endangered mammals in the world. The African wild dog lives in sub-Saharan Africa mainly in Tanzania and Mozambique. They stand about 3 feet tall and can be up to 4 feet long. The dogs weigh between 40-70 pounds. The coat of the wild dogs is a colorful explosion of red, black, white, brown, and yellow. It is the colorful coat that gave the species the painted dog name. The African wild dog can have a litter of up to 20 pups, but the average size is 8 pups. They are social animals and live in large packs of about 10 dogs. Sometimes, there can be 40 dogs in the pack. The African wild dogs hunt together and are opportunistic predators.

They prey on the young, sick, injured, and old. Because of this, they are important to the ecosystem.

The African wild dog is endangered for a variety of reasons. Loss of habitat, disease, and conflict with humans are the three main ones. To stop the decline of the African wild dog population, there are conservation areas and dog tracking programs in place. Another way that the African wild dog is being helped is through education programs for farmers and ranchers. These efforts will hopefully save this beautiful and important species.

Albino Mongoose Jack Reynolds Gr. 6 One day there was an albino mongoose. He was walking around on his daily walk. He saw a dog look at him funny, so he swallowed him whole. But other than that, it was a normal day. The next day he was on his walk and got hit by a fighter jet. The Jet had Fort day in it. So, then it became hairless, so it was a hairless albino mongoose and it got superpowers. The superpower was spiting trees out of his mouth. He went on to save the world. He saved it by spitting trees everywhere. That helped them because they love trees.

Aminah Robinson- Stand! Occupy! Protest! In 2012 Dallas Parker Gr. 4 Aminah Robinson painted the modern, folk art piece Stand! Occupy! Protest! In 2012. The piece was begun in 2010 and completed in 2012. The painting tells a story of injustice in the African American community. It is about how African Americans do not have the same rights as white people, and that is not fair. Throughout history, African Americans have used peaceful protests to bring attention to their struggle and the issues of inequality. The people in the painting carry signs demanding things like civil rights, quality education, and home ownership. These are things that every American should have. The issues being protested in the painting have caused difficulties for African Americans for a long time, and they are still an issue today.

The artwork is painted with watercolors. The medium creates a watery effect that almost makes the people look like they are moving. Her color palette is bold primary colors. These colors draw the viewer to the painting. The center figure is wearing a bright green shirt and hat that really pop at the viewer.

The eyes immediately focus on this man. The vivid colors of the painting create an electric scene that is full of energy. The excitement of the protest reaches out of the painting. There are rows and rows of people all carrying signs. This gives the painting depth.

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The Summit Country Day School

Ancient Book – an excerpt Lexi Eastman Gr. 7 Settings: Early 2000s, in an abandon school.

One chilly night, Liam and his friends were over at his house and across the street was an abandoned school. Liam was terrified of the school because people say its haunted. Liam and his friends were playing truth or dare.

“Liam go into the abandon school and get the ancient book,” Noah said cautiously. There was this one book that was placed in the school, and no one knew what the book was about...

“NO WAY! I’m not going in there, it’s haunted!” Liam exclaimed.

“Oh, don’t be a scaredy cat Liam,” Noah taunted. “Haven’t you heard of the story of the missing girl who went in there, who was dared to go into the school but never came out? No one knew what had happened to her ever since that day,” said Liam. They all had scared looks on their faces. Finally, his friends persuaded him, but he would only go if his friends came with him, and so they agreed hesitantly not knowing what they were in for.

And They Were Broommates – an excerpt Harper Wood Gr. 7 BA BAM! A large cloud of green smoke erupts in my face. Again. Stars, am I ever going to be able to get this right? I’ve been trying to transform into my animal form, a brown hare for DAYS. I mean this is just torture. Sonia has already been able to change into her animal form, a gorgeous gray wolf…. OH, COSMOS I’M DOING IT AGAIN. FOCUS! I hear the doors swing open as I see Sonia barge in.

“C’mon, Grand Master Goliath wants to see us,” she barks.

“What! Really?” I ask.

“Really,” she replies.

Sonia and I stroll down the corridor to Grand Master Goliath’s office. I politely knock on the door.

Before we can receive and answer, Sonia kicked the door open and waltzed in. I grabbed her arm.

“Sonia, you can’t just barge into the Grand Master’s office!” I yelled quietly.

“Let go of my arm!” she sneered.

“No way!” I replied.

Before I knew it, Sonia had disappeared into a cloud of purple smoke. When the smoke cleared, a majestic gray wolf was in the spot where Sonia had once stood.

Angel Cat Katherine Shuey Gr. 6 At first, Angel Cat was a normal cat. She was the most angelic cat in the world, she never scratched the furniture, people, or even hissed or tried to run away. Coincidentally, her owner even named her Angel, because of her pure white fur and how angelic she was. But, like all pets, she died, causing her owner a lot of grief. In heaven, God saw how good Angel was, so he made her an actual angel cat! Then Angel Cat went back to her owner, and it only seemed like her cat had been revived. Until she saw Angel Cat’s wings, halo, and glowing claws. She saw her cat fly, which completely erased all doubt of them being fake. From then on, her owner brought Angel Cat anywhere she went.

Until one fateful day, when they were coming home from the grocery store, and Angel Cat sensed something purely evil. It was Devil Dog! Devil Dog had gotten his powers in the same way as Angel Cat except it was for being a very bad dog, going to hell, and meeting the devil. It had been a year and it was about time they both showed off their special powers. Angel Cat who flies with angel wings, has a halo, and has glowing claws that annihilate all evil. V.S. Devil Dog who flies with torn, evil-looking wings, and has devil horns. He also had black teeth that cut off the wings of angels before finishing them by breaking their halo, turning them into normal people. So similar, yet so different.

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Wordworks

Anne Frank – a Capstone excerpt Collin McGuire Gr. 5 Anne Frank was born June 12, 1929, in Frankfurt, Germany. The Frank family were Reformed Jews, which means they participated in Jewish traditions, but they simplified many Jewish beliefs and customs. To the Nazis, they were just Jewish. Soon after Anne Frank was born, her family moved to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. On March 13, 1933, elections were held in Frankfurt for the municipal council. Hitler’s party, The Nazis, won the election and Adolf Hitler came to power. Adolf Hitler slowly began making it hard for Jewish people to have freedoms and soon worked to eliminate them altogether. His hatred caused Anne Frank to go into hiding with her family, The Van Pels family, and Mr. Fritz Pfeffer.

The entire Frank family were courageous because they took a chance at hiding to try to stay alive.

They did not have much space for a home, and every day they feared that they would be discovered.

The children stayed focused on their studies, hoping that the war would soon end, and they could go back to school and learn as much as possible before it was too late. As Anne Frank grew, she wrote even more in her diary, she had pictures of everyone and every event that happened while in hiding. They were hiding in the building that housed Otto Franks’s old Jam and Jelly making company called Opekta. They hid in a secret annex behind a fake bookcase.

Athletes Are Paid Too Much – an excerpt Ceci Viveros Valdepeña Gr. 7 Professional athletes, entertaining individuals, should not be paid as much as they do. They are paid 4 million dollars while the average registered nurse gets paid $52,810 a year. The sport they play is fun to watch and difficult, but is not lifesaving, and somehow manage to pocket millions. There are surgeons, firefighters, and nurses that are saving lives who get paid less than %1 compared to pro athletes.

We put too much attention into their career, and we are feeding their egos. Justin Hjelm says, “Would a child rather play basketball and make millions or go to school for years and end up making $50,000 a year?” (Hjelm 963). We need to focus on the importance of people before handing them a high salary.

Australia Arianna Trimm Gr. 3 Australia is a wonderful place to be, with nature, animals, and sights to see! Australia has some of the world’s deadliest animals. Like the top ten deadliest animals which are… Taipan Snake, Saltwater Crocodile (Salties), Blue Ringed Octopus, Stonefish, Redback Spider (Australian Black Widow), Great White Shark, and the Sydney Funnel Web Spider. Woah! There are a lot of deadly animals! I think I want to meet the cutest animal. In Australia which is the Koala! Koalas eat eucalyptus leaves; they can be very picky with their food.

The estimation of Australia’s population is 25,696255. Wow! That’s a lot of people! Fun Fact! Australian people have a nickname: Aussie/Ozzie. The meaning of Ozzie is “bear god, or God’s power.”

Australia for the most part, is a pretty warm place, even during the coldest times. Only bottoming out in Sydney at about 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit). It’s even warmer in northern areas, where it mostly just gets less humid and rains less. QLD is voted the best place to live in Australia.

People also like Sydney, Australia a lot.

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The Summit Country Day School

Ballet Dancing – an excerpt Vivie Kate Keeney Gr. 3 Ballet is an art form that you can learn. Many people like to do ballet. There are things you need to know about ballet before you get started. Moves are the actions used in dancing. Let’s start out with the basics. How to do the first position is you put your feet together and then spread them out like butterfly wings. Take your arms and stretch them out and then make them round at your waist. That’s first position. Now to do the second position, you spread your legs out far but not too far. Next, spread your hands out sideways above your feet. For the third position, you put both of your feet sideways together in opposite directions. One of your arms makes a half of a circle at your waste, and you place your other arm straight sideways and make sure to curve your hand. Now, let’s try fourth position. Place your heels together with one foot sideways and the other facing forward. You make one of your arms curved and above your head like a half circle and the other curved at your waist. Now, the last basic move is the fifth position, here we go. First, you put both feet sideways, heels together, and make them point in opposite directions. Your arms make a circle and stretch in the air above your head. That’s fifth position. The last thing to learn is a basic spin. You just curve your arms and put one leg to your knee sideways and spin.

Bana Alabed – a Capstone excerpt Landen Richter Gr. 5 Bana Alabed once said, “I just want to live life without fear.” Bana Alabed is living a courageous life.

I hope to be like her. Bana Alabed is living a very tough life. Bana was born in 2009 in Aleppo, Syria.

She has been tweeting on Twitter. Almost every single day there was bombing. She struggled a lot.

They always had to run to the basement when a bomb was dropped. She couldn’t go to school! Finally, after a while busses came to take them out of Syria. A trip that would’ve took 90 minutes took 19 hours!

But they are safe now.

Three ways I can be courageous like Bana are, if I don’t have enough food or water because they are out of it, I can have courage and I will be ok. Another way I can be courageous is if I can’t go to school its ok, I will be fine. One other way I can be courageous is if something bad happens I can have courage to be ok and not to get sad. That is how I can be courageous like Bana Alabed.

Barn Assistant Liam Buckius Gr. 5 I am applying for the job of Barn Assistant at Santa’s Workshop. I believe that am qualified for this job because I have much experience with animals. I own a lizard, a snake, and a labradoodle, which I care for, feed, and play with. I also have experience with horses with my sister, watching her lessons.

Horses and reindeer have a similar DNA structure and similar needs, which I understand.

I attend Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati, Ohio and I feel my strengths are that I am easily motivated and a hard worker. I also love Christmas. But most important for this job, I love animals of all kinds. I feel that I am the best person for this job because I have a great deal of experience with animals, both pets and wild. I also believe that I am intelligent and a hard worker, which is needed for a job as important as this one.

Basketball During COVID-19 Pandemic Leo Lyons Gr. 7 Covid 19 is something in the world, and it is not going disappear. At the same time, basketball isn’t going away either. There are many things that we cannot do this year, but basketball is still here, and I would like to play with my team, especially since my 7th grade year is important to me since I made A team. I really want to be at the games to support my team. Covid is a problem, but the vaccine is coming out for us, and this will all be over, but that would be too late for basketball season. My team is still a team and still playing without me, and I want to be there and help because it could be a perfect year for learning the game especially with my good coaches and how much I like them. I should play basketball this year because it will help me stay fit, embrace my passion, and will improve my mental health.

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Wordworks

Basketball – an excerpt Alexander Hill Gr. 3 There are many ways to play basketball. There’s streetball, college basketball, grade school basketball, and professional basketball. Streetball is an unorganized way to play basketball. There are no fouls, no out of bounds, and no rules. Grade school basketball is organized but not as organized as college. When you play in college, you have to travel a lot. The pros have the most traveling, and it is the most organized. All of these ways of playing basketball have offense and defense. Offense is important. To run the offense, you need passing, shooting, and dribbling. Passing is where you give the ball to your teammate. For example, when LeBron James passes the ball to Anthony Davis. Shooting is where you push the ball in the air. If it goes in the net, you score points. Dribbling is where you push the ball down with one hand and when it comes back up, you repeat it. Offense is mostly about scoring.

Be a tiger Alejandro Sharp Gr. 4 A scene from, The Last Tigers, written from the tiger, Charlie’s, point of view.

I looked at the pipe. It was like a black hole. The girl’s sing-song voice called to me, “Charlie, Lulu, do what I do.” The girl entered. Lulu and I followed the girl through the tunnel, water trickling through the pipe. I got in front of the girl; Lulu got behind. The gate closed with a loud, Clank. The girl sings out again, “Lulu, Charlie, don’t leave me.” The fur on our paws is clumped for the water covering the floor of the pipe. Splish, splash, splish, splash was the only sound as we moved through the darkness.

Suddenly, a green coil came slithering by, a snake. It slunk closer across the wet ground. The snake’s hiss echoed loud and hard in the cavernous pipe. I became tight with fear. I crouched, ready to pounce.

Then, the girl took out…something. It looked like a flashlight. Then the thing she was holding sent a ray of orange, making a laser-like noise. “Charlie, Lulu, the snake won’t hurt you.” The snake took the hit and stopped moving. It was paralyzed. Relief washed over me. Could we possibly escape?

Being a Tiger Asela Goico Gr. 4 It was a dark night with tiny bright dots covering the sky. Charlie and I were running, following the voice. The voice that we had listened to ever since we were cubs. That beautiful voice that came out of the girl’s mouth. The girl that had been with us for as long as we could remember, forever. Then we stopped abruptly. Directly in front of us was a huge black hole. Charlie and I were freaked out. We did not want to go in there, but the girl was inside. Her melodic voice continued to call us into the cave.

Glancing at each other, we silently stepped through. A hiss echoed through the space barely lit by the twinkling stars. The light created a shadow of the giant snake. Charlie and I were frozen in place, but the gasp from the girl woke us. We rushed at the snake fangs bared and claws flashing. The snake knew it was in a hopeless situation and slithered quickly away. The whispered thanks of the girl reached us as we crossed the dimly lit space. We rushed out of the darkness to the watering hole full of pride and relief that the girl was still safe.

Ben the Gorilla Ryan MacDonald Gr. 6 There once was a gorilla named Ben. He was a lab gorilla. He was tested on quite intensely. Then one day he got a superpower. It was the ability to read minds, and he could hypnotize people. So, he made someone let him go. Ben spent his days terrorizing the city. He would make people get him stuff to make him bigger and stronger.

Then one day a hero came and tried to catch Ben. It took him many tries and long years to catch Ben, but eventually he was caught. Ben was put in an inescapable cage. You could only go in the room with him if you had a special device on your head to see poor Ben.

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The Summit Country Day School

Bigfoot vs. Yeti Evelyn Paulsen Gr. 3 You have heard before that Bigfoot is a myth, that people can stop looking for the Yeti. To begin, let’s learn about the Yeti, then I will tell you about Bigfoot. Have you ever heard the Yeti lives in the caves of the Himalayan Mountains? Some caves are ices caves, which means they are made of ice. Another type of cave is a rock cave, made of rock. What made the Yeti so famous?

The yeti are covered in lots of shaggy white hair that covers most of its body. The Yeti grows about 6 feet tall. Another name for the Yeti is the Abominable Snowman. The Yeti eats plants and dead animals that live in the Himalayas.

Bigfoot is the most well-known of all the Bigfoot species in the world. It lives in the remote and heavily wooded forests in North America. Unlike the Yeti, Bigfoot has brown hair, maroon hair, or a mix. A similarity is that they are both mammals. Another similarity is that they are both omnivorous.

Biltmore Estelle Neyer Gr. 3 The Biltmore is a beautiful place with 145 rooms, and a couple thousand acres of land. If you ever go there, you will never be bored! I highly recommend going to the village hotel. It even has a heated pool!

If you’re looking for a place to eat, go to Cedric’s Tavern; it is very cool. There is an amazing park train too. It’s huge! The land that they have is bigger than the house. Mr. Vanderbilt planted all the trees there! (With some help.) There are as many trees there as there are seats in the Bengals stadium.

The house is not a normal house. It’s GIGANTIC. There’s a bowling alley, a swimming pool, an indoor garden, and a gym. There are so many bedrooms and bathrooms! They show you what they really used, not just plastic models. You will love the Biltmore Gardens. In the gardens, they have orchids, trees, wildflowers, and more. When you walk through the gardens you’ll see displays of flowers. You won’t be able to smell them because they are roped off. But they’re so pretty it is still worth seeing them.

Black Hole Information Paradox – an excerpt Ben Hofmann Gr. 5 In 1974, Stephen Hawking made calculations about black holes evaporating over a long period of time. This is through something called Hawking Radiation. However, there was a problem with Stephen Hawking’s calculations. The calculations stated that even though black holes could have different ways of forming (e.g., 2 neutron stars colliding or from the collapse of a massive star), they would still have the same end radiation. This was a problem because it violated a quantum mechanical law called unitarity, which stated information from the past must be preserved in the present (information cannot be destroyed). This was the beginning of one of the most vexing paradoxes in all of science, the black hole information paradox.

The uncertainty of the information kept in black holes became known as the black hole paradox (this article will go into more detail of what this means). Information is how particles are arranged and information for all things are different. For example, coal and diamond are both made of carbon, but the way their particles are arranged are different, therefore forming different things. If 2 black holes with different ways of forming have the same end radiation, it means that they have the same information, but that is not possible because the ways they formed are different (therefore, the information for their sources was different). The fact that black holes follow unitarity was not verified until 1997. In 1997, Juan Maldacena approached the problem another way, thus verifying that black holes follow unitarity. However, this created a new problem. It is still agreed that nothing can escape from a black hole (unless the black hole evaporates).

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Wordworks

Boarding School – an excerpt Gabby Knight Gr. 7 “Well because you decided to scathe the town, it gave me some time to think and I concluded that you should got to a boarding school for misbehaved kids, and there will be visiting days every Sunday, it is in Virginia so Kate can visit you, if she wants. And when you get back during the summer you will stay with Aunt Grace,” Mom answered. My mouth dropped, I could not think for a second my heart was pounding, and I wanted to just redo this whole thing.

“I’m sorry Mom I’ve learned my lesson and I want do it again, Kathrine can go to college without me, I’m sorry please, I’m sorry,” I said with tears in my eyes. The next day I woke up and looked outside there was a bus pulling in the driveway honking. I assumed it was the school bus, so I got all my stuff from clothes to my makeup, to memories of when I had my family. My mom came the next day because she was trying to teach me a lesson, when she realized there was no sign of me, she saw the note I left for her on the bed.

Bob in the Mob Iggy Dwyer Gr. 5 There once was a person named Bob. He was part of an angry mob.

They were so mad indeed. So angry that they peed. Bob decided to get a new job.

Boston Finn Pichler Gr. 6 Once there was a cat named Boston who was the amazing Tiger’s pet. He has claws in the back and has plasma cannons in the front because he is de-clawed. Whenever he is not with his owner, he is doing his best to fight crime. His worst enemy is the evil cat nip destroyer! His origin is he was once in a pound, and he freed everyone by using molten metal to melt the bars but then melted off his claws in the front. His only weakness is beef and cheese stew. He goes on missions by himself. He is facing his worst enemy, the evil cat nip destroyer! His once escaped with a heat gun, but it melted off his claws and they were replaced with plasma blasters. He continues to fight crime and defeat worldly problems.

Boston Massacre – an excerpt Samuel Krulcik Gr. 4 The Boston Massacre is especially important to the Road to the Revolution because it made the colonists hate the British even more than they already did. Several colonists died and many others were injured. Both sides of the conflict were very angry, and there seemed to be no hope of restoring peace after that bloody day.

On March 5, 1770, the Boston Massacre occurred. On the evening of March 5 Private Montgomery marched down King Street with a horde of British troops the colonists immediately saw them and started to tease and throw things at them. During this exchange, Private Montgomery was hit and fell. The British troops were confused and fired into the crowd, shooting and injuring colonists. Five colonists died and six were injured. Eight British troops were arrested and pressed with charges. The Boston Massacre is especially important because it paved the road to the Revolutionary War. Without the events of the massacre, the colonists may not have gotten angry enough to go to war.

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Bunnies – The Wrath Noah Berhanu Gr. 6 One day white bunny and black bunny were chilling at their house sipping apple juice and eating carrot cake. Anyway, they were just chilling, and then black bunny started talking about a bad dream he had the other day. Once upon a time they were chilling exactly how we are right now at home and someone threw a rock through a window. Just when black bunny was going to continue with his story someone actually threw a rock through their window. They were so scared they ran out and found a hole and hid there for a bit. The RAD BAD RACOON Recon had snuck up on them and caused destruction to their house. White bunny then asked black bunny what happened next. Black bunny was about to say something when they heard Recon. Recon said that they were facing THE WRATH. They ran to a police station and told the police and they arrested Recon or THE WRATH. Black bunny asked white bunny why he was trying to kill them. White bunny then told him the whole story. So, when they were in college Recon tried to propose and he said if you do not say yes, you will regret it. Well, she said no and that is why he was angry.

Business Tips James Hodge Gr. 3 Business is fun, and I hope you’ll learn a lot today. I’ll be teaching about customers, the selling cycle, and greeting people. It’s fun to be outside selling stuff, so I hope you’re ready to learn about business!

It’s going to be hard trying to get customers, but after patient waiting, you’ll have some customers! It’s important to have customers because you can sell your stuff and get more money. I hope one day I get to be a millionaire, own a successful business, and use my money wisely. Sometimes you must buy stuff with your money, and that stuff can be signs, drinks, food, candy and more! The cycle goes in a loop!

When you make money, you get to choose how to spend it. When a customer comes to your business, what do you say? You say, “Hello!” or, “Welcome to ____!” It’s important to have a good greeting because you don’t want to have a person spread rumors that you’re not a good company. You can make any greeting you want! A good greeting will make the person want to come back.

Butterscotch and Ash – a bunnies excerpt Rowan Cosgrove Gr. 6 The lovely couple Butterscotch and Ash were hopping home one day when they got home all their animal friends were there. They were freaking out and said that were hunters coming through the brush and they did not know what to do. They all started to run when the found an abandoned warehouse. That’s when they had an idea, they were going to join a secret animal spy group. They were looking all around the warehouse to see if there was any one there that might have started one when all a sudden they heard noise coming from up the stairs. They slowly made their way up and found a lot of animals there who were a part of a secret agency called the hunters must go. They asked to join but they said that only white bunny deer and the birds can join but the black bear and black bunny could not. This made everyone mad so the left made their own company called- the hunters must be gone forever.

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Campfire Story – an extra scene Sophie Brouwer Gr. 7 Jack ran and ran until suddenly he was at a dead end. The dead end was an abandoned alley way with many cats running around and it had a lot of trash. He knew that he wouldn’t survive this, so he surrendered. He knew that because he did this, he would be captured or even worse, killed. He felt tired even though his adrenaline was still coursing through his body. He closed his eyes and tried to remember his happy place. This place was a place that his family used to go to. It was a lake with many ducks swimming around it smelled like pine trees and dirt. His sister, Maggie, used to love this place especially the ducks which were her most favorite animals. Jack would usually go swimming in the water, and it felt cool, and he could also feel the plants on the ground touching his skin. After he went for a swim, he would go into the forest to see if there were any newer species of birds that came there.

When he went into the forest it was like the sky suddenly got brighter as he continued into the forest, he would see…

Camping in the Backyard – an excerpt Sabrina Diaz Gr. 3 “I have a four-day break, Dad!” I was telling my dad. “Cool, so what do you want to do in that time?” he asked me. “I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Read, I guess?” “Ok, but you know what we can do?” Dad said. “What?” I replied. “Go camping in the backyard!” said Dad. Mom said that she didn’t want to go to sleep with us outside, so Dad and I set up the tent after dinner and started putting blankets and pillows inside. Dad inflated his camping mattress, and mom gave me a small mattress with a mattress cover to sleep on.

Once everything was ready, I quickly brushed my teeth, put on my PJ’s, and grabbed a water bottle, some books, and my iPad, and ran to the tent. Dad grabbed Lucy, (My dog), and went to the tent too. I fell asleep minutes later.

When I woke up, it was 9:00 A.M. I woke up Dad, and we both played games for a little while. Then I felt kind of hot, and all of the sudden, the battery on my iPad ran out, so I went to the kitchen for some water and something for breakfast. I ate a yogurt and drank some water, and then woke up Lucy.

I was ready for the day!

Candy Chef Job Manuel Cantillo Gr. 5 Dear Kandy Kane, I am applying for the candy chef job. I am qualified for this job because I can make cookies, I make deserts with my family and I can make ice-cream without much wait to eat it.

I attend Summit Country Day School and feel my strengths are baking, cooking, mathematics, and taste testing. I feel I am the best person for the job because I am highly creative, dedicative, and imaginative. I make interesting art using inks, mixing colors to make abstract designs. This is important for candy making as picking color combinations for the candy can get your mind thinking on what flavor.

I also like building things out of nothing, and once made an astronaut Halloween costume with coke bottles. This shows I have a good imagination, and this is important for candy making. Lastly, I have shown dedication. For example, once I start building a Lego I do not stop until I finish it. I follow the instructions of the Lego with a lot of attention and focus, which is important in candy making so you don’t mess up with the recipe.

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Cargo – an excerpt Alec Rambow Gr. 7 “Mark, age 36, planet: Earth,” the keyboard clacked as Mark typed in his details for the ride home.

Mark had just finished a cargo run from moon base 1627 and was heading back to the cargo port on Earth. Earth wasn’t much these days it was left behind by the rest of humanity, the rich live on a synthetic planet orbiting the sun, and the rest ship cargo to and from overpopulated planets, Mark was just another transport trying to scrape enough together to eat a meal each night.

“Phschhhh,” the hydraulic doors hissed as he entered his apartment.

“Hey honey!” Jamie half shouted from the kitchen.

“Hey,” Mark said in a flat tone as he made his way to the kitchen. “What’s the latest?” Mark asked as he set his ID card on the 100% recycled plastic counter.

“Oh! Yes, I forgot to message you but... I got the job!” Jamie exclaimed.

“What!!? That’s awesome!” Mark replied half excited and half worried because he knew the job she was talking about was an intergalactic shipping job would require her to pass through dangerous sectors of space. “What’s the pay gonna be?” Mark questioned still worried.

“Well GSC (Galactic Shipping Company) said in total it will be $250,000, half on the day of the job and the other half once I reach the destination,” Jamie told him, Mark paused, and his eyes slowly widened.

Cats – an excerpt Cleá Sinno Gr. 3 Many people love cats! It’s important to take care of them. Here are some tips that might help you.

Cat’s love treats and yummy food. Try saying their name to get their attention. Next, crinkle the bag and give them their treat. Be sure not to give them too much! For food, you put it in a bowl. Give them a small amount for breakfast and dinner. There are all different types of food. Find what your cat loves.

They might want some attention. Be sure not to play with them too long or they might get tired. Don’t play too rough with them because they might get hurt or you might get hurt. Play simple games with them like chase the yarn or ball.

Cells – an excerpt Meera Mullapudi Gr. 3 Cells are very interesting. They are needed in humans, plants, and animals. Here are some types of cells. Prokaryotic cells are in many living things like fungus. They are like a one room cabin and don’t have any compartments. These cells don’t have a nucleus around the DNA, but they do have ribosomes to store their protein. Unlike a prokaryotic cell, a eukaryotic cell has a nucleus around its DNA. It is like a multi-room cabin. The cell has a Golgi body to package and transport things in and out of the cell.

The vacuole holds the cells waste to keep it from just floating around the cell.

Plant cells have many parts. Have you ever wondered where plants get their green color? All of that stuff happens in the chloroplast where the photosynthesis is stored then chemical reactions happen and that turns the plant green!

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Challenge Any Flag Quinn Bohmer Gr. 7 I think NCAAF and the NFL are amazing, but I have one big problem with them. I think teams should be allowed to challenge any flag if they have a time out, with the same challenge rules of the NFL. I believe this rule could change the sport of football forever and is very important and make the game a bit more fair. Someone may say that this is barely changing a rule, but currently, only the referee can decide to review a penalty, or even pick up the flag for some penalties. Now, the coaches can notice the referee made a mistake, and challenge it on any penalty. Now if the referee has the wrong angle or made a mistake, the coach can act as a second option. I think the NFL and NCAAF should be allowed to challenge any flag because it can overturn penalties, make the game much fairer, and make the fans calmer and happier.

I think the challenging of flags could easily overturn bad penalties and missed penalties. I understand this can slow down the game and be a very common challenge, but that is why I think it should cost the team a timeout if the challenge fails, just like the standard NFL rule, so there is more risk to it.

I think this is very important for teams and referees, because referees make mistakes sometimes maybe because they just were not looking in the area of the penalty, so this rule will also help them.

Championship Women’s Team Disrespected – an excerpt Callie Karageorges Gr. 7 In 2019, all 28 players of the US Women’s National Soccer Team filed a class action lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation saying they should be paid more (Kelly). Some people would disagree saying that they don’t make as much revenue as the men’s sports teams. However, the US Women’s soccer team should be paid more because the law requires equal pay for equal work, they have had a lot of success, and they make more money for the US Soccer Federation than the US Mens Soccer Team (Kelly). The US Women’s Soccer Team should be paid more because it’s the law, they are more successful, and they generate more revenue.

It is not only unfair to pay them less, but also, illegal to pay women less for the same job as men.

In the Equal Pay Act of 1993, it says, “People with the same qualifications receive equal pay.” (Carol).

The US Women’s team does the same work as the Men’s team, they both represent the US in soccer. If companies discriminate on gender, they could have to pay a lot of money for breaking the law (Carol).

Equal pay is based on equal work, but the women are not only playing equally, but they are also playing better.

Christmas Vivie Lyons Gr. 6 On a Christmas day my domesticated sister already had all her gifts opened. My brother was amiss because had only received coal from Santa. My dad detested candy, so then every piece we received was thrown away. My mom came down and said, “Vivie is foremost in the family, so she can open her gifts first.” Later my notable uncle came over and said, “Where did all my presents go?” My grandpa told him that he is flagrant person, so he didn’t receive anything. Finally my dog was given some of the best presents.

Cincinnati Gymnastics Emma McCormick Gr. 3 Gymnastics is a hard sport; it takes a lot of practice. Boys and girls can do the sport. There are many events like vault bars beam and floor. If you are interested in a gym you could go to Cincinnati Gymnastics. Have you ever been choreographed? It’s when you have someone put together a routine.

First, it’s when you choose a piece of music that’s instrumental. Next you have someone make a dance to the music. Once you have done these two steps you can have a choreographed routine. When you compete, you wear pretty leotards that have long sleeves. You wear you also wear a warmup. For my team I wear a jacket and black pants. When you compete you get a score of 10.00 to 1.00 depending on how many points you lose. Try your best. You can be amazing.

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Cincinnati, Ohio Marianna Gehring Gr. 3 Cincinnati is a place with a lot of adventures. Let me tell you some stuff about it!

There are so many beautiful creatures that live in Cincinnati, such as the cardinal, rabbits, squirrels, and sometimes bats. Cincinnati is a beautiful setting in the word. It has buckeye trees, rose bushes, that smell so good it feels like you are in Wonderland! Also, when it is sunny it’s sunny; when it’s raining it’s POURING! In my opinion, I think the people in Cincinnati are nice. Cincinnati also has two sports teams! One of them is the Bengals. They are Cincinnati’s NFL football team. The Reds are our baseball Team! Ohio has another football team named Ohio State. Ohio State is good at football.

Downtown Cincinnati is President Taft’s birthplace! Isn’t that cool? There are a lot of buildings and apartments downtown. You will also see a Ferris wheel, different restaurants, the Reds’ stadium, and the Bengal’s stadium. Downtown is always bustling with people.

Also, you can visit the Cincinnati Country Club, otherwise known as the C. C. C. on Grandin Road.

The C. C. C. has an outdoor pool where you can really embrace the feeling of the beautiful outside world you live in. You will see trees swaying, hear birds chirping, and the soft touch of the pool water on your fingertips. You vaguely hear splashing children, but you are mostly absorbed in the beautiful nature around you. To find out more about Cincinnati visit your local library or ask your parents!

Clubs for Soccer Kate Kroner Gr. 3 There are many types of the soccer teams. There are clubs and professional teams. They are all good. Soccer is a worldwide sport, it includes a ball and two goals. You kick the ball in the goal to get a point. There are a lot of moves you can do under pressure. There are a different number of players for different age groups. There are refs at every game. Kings Hammer is a club soccer team that practices in Kentucky and Ohio. Their colors are black and white, and their symbol is a lion. They play other teams across the state and play tournaments. They play teams like the US Cincinnati Elite. They have an academy team which has a ton of games, practices, in warm clothes. We also have a little kid’s team.

There are many teams in different age groups. They have goalie camp, World Cup camp, and striker camp. We go from about four years old to about 14 years old period. We do indoor on turf and winter if you sign up in a basketball courts and once your two if you sign up.

College Officials Should be Examined for Bad Calls – an excerpt Devlan Daniel Gr. 7 Refs shouldn’t get paid for bad calls and mistakes they make. Refs get paid 2,500 dollars per game after expenses no matter bad calls or not (Saturday down south). Average refs that do better than others get paid 200,000 a year before calls counted. Refs that make good calls should get a bonus of 100.

For bad calls, they should be deducted. So, college officials that make bad calls should not get paid the same as someone that makes better calls.

College officials should not be put in unless they have lots of training before being put into a real game and approved by the official group before each game. They should have replay officials tested and trained more and put in more realistic moments that they could be tested on. College officials should do the same thing by going through training and working with the official group to get better before going into professional or college games. College officials should not be put in unless both teams approve them being their official before they start because they could have a bad reputation. Sometimes college officials can be incredibly good. Nevertheless, they do not always try their best in games. So, officials should be put through more training before being put in.

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Coming to America – a Sisters of Notre Dame excerpt Rocco Quintero Gr. 6 When I first heard that I was going to America, I was extremely excited. It was a dream come true on my birthday. It was the best birthday present ever. I will try to be the best teacher ever. I cannot wait to go to America! My six-week journey is horrible and tiring. I am so seasick, but I cannot let that stop me from going to America. Right now, it is the 5th week on the boat, and I am so excited to get off of this dreadful boat. I am reading the Bible and praying to God every day. I was scared because there were pirates that were trying to get on the boat, but they could not get to our boat because there was a strong current.

Cincinnati is cold and drizzling right now. There is a market going on and I decided I would get some things from there. There are people with stands selling food items and other things. It smells delicious once you are in the market.

Computers – an excerpt Connor Love Gr. 3 Every gamer knows you NEED a computer to game. It is the one thing you need to game all day long. You also really need a comfortable chair. If your laptop stops working, and your parents say that they will not buy you a new one, say that you can build a computer for a monitor. If you build a computer here are some of the things that you need. CPU, battery, mother board, power supply, memory card, ram, water cooler, fans, a case, and much more. Monitors are also a key thing in being a gamer.

They are used to display the games. You also need a desk to put the monitors on. If you want to be a YouTube gamer, you need a camera and lights.

Confetti Girl – a book review excerpt Javi Beatty Gr. 6 Apolonia Flores, or Lina for short, is a Latina girl who is obsessed with socks trying to restore her life in Corpus Christi, Texas. She’s mainly obsessed with socks though. She has three drawers with different types of socks. Formal socks, single socks, and sock heaven. The first drawer is filled with just a bunch of normal socks. The second is all the socks she has that have lost their partners. And then the third drawer where all the socks have holes, rips, etc. Her dad is a single-minded English teacher that is obsessed with books. He has been withdrawn to point of the disappearance of his wife and Lina’s mother. So, Lina tries to use the socks she has in many ways. She also has her best friend since almost her whole life, Vanessa. She is a vital person to her life while she gains confidence while playing her favorite sport, volleyball, and her focusing and relying on her own ingenuity.

Crash Henry Holsinger Gr. 4 It all started when my friends and I decided to go scootering at the golf course. It seemed like it would be a lot of fun. We found the highest hill we could, and I started down it on my scooter. On the way down, I tripped. My body flipped over the scooter, and I landed on my arm. Crunch! My arm shattered. Everything after that was blurry. I was in a lot of pain, but I made it home. My mother rushed me to the hospital. At the hospital, I knew my arm was bad because it looked crooked. The x-rays showed that I had a compound fracture, so the doctors gave me an IV. They wanted me to sleep through what was going to happen next. I woke up with my arm set and in a splint which is basically a bandage cast.

When I looked at my arm, I realized that baseball season was starting the next day. I wasn’t going to be able to play for half of the season. I learned it’s never a good idea to ride a baby scooter down a steep hill.

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Crazy Chronicles Wyatt Miller Gr. 6 If you are reading this, you must be special. You are about to read some of the most unexplainable stories that have happened in our world, you may want to put this book down at times. But I assure you! You will learn some things aren’t as they seem, and you may realize there is never a reasonable explanation for what you see, hear or even think. You may read on, but you have been warned.

There was a child. His name was Dolan and was sort of unusual. He came across a dandelion patch and so happened to pick the one of the different ones. At the time, he didn’t even know it was different, so he made a wish and then blew the flower part off. Later that day he was starting to feel some queasiness but ignored it. He had dinner regularly and nothing happened. The next day though, he found himself in a jungle type place. Dolan was kind of scared even though he had wished to go to the jungle.

He made a horrible mistake by not wishing himself back. He searched and searched and searched but couldn’t find any way out of the jungle. Then he hears a sound like “Dulin.” He wakes up back in his room with his mom calling his name. He had just had a dream.

Dangers and Consequences of Climate Change – an excerpt Jackson Curt Gr. 7 Imagine a world where there are no farms or flowers, and many animals are extinct. All the cities are overcrowded and there is not enough food, water, or energy for everyone. This is an example of what earth might look like if we ignore climate change. Some people think and say that climate change is not real, however, when you look at the facts and statistics, it is most definitely real. Climate change is an extremely dangerous threat to the Earth, but that is mostly our fault. Climate change is dangerous because it causes global temperatures to increase, makes animals that are important for humanities’ survival go extinct, and can affect current and future generations of humanity negatively. Although it is a very bad problem, it is still a fixable one if everyone does their part to help.

The first reason that climate change is dangerous is because it causes the global temperatures to increase. In the last hundred years, Earth’s temperature has risen about 1-2 degrees Fahrenheit. People might not think that a 1-2 degree change in the temperature is not bad, but it can cause many problems for both humans and animals. The rising temperatures are causing desertification, which is the transformation of fertile land into dry and uninhabitable land.

Dark Sons – a book review Nate Gockerman Gr. 6 Ishmael is the son of Abraham and his servant because his father thought Sarah was too old to have a kid. Then Sarah has a kid and tough time begin for Ishmael. His Dad starts spending time with his other son more than him. To make things worse his stepmom Sarah hates him. With Ishmael faith in God, he makes it though these tough times against all obstacles. Sam is having a tough time with his dad’s divorce and is struggling to keep afloat. To make matters worse his dad is also moving away with his stepmom. It seems all forces are working against him. He looks for faith in God and tries to stay faithful. Then they the two stories get winded together and the moral is shone: Stay faithful.

There once was a story in the Bible/ About Ishmael and his survival/ But in this book Another had the same storybook/ So, they looked to God/ And they were awed

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Day at the Beach with Kermit the Frog – an excerpt Paige Kropp Gr. 7 One day in the desert, present time Kermit the Frog was tired and dehydrated. He needed some time to relax. Kermit was so tired of working at the local grocery store in the middle of the desert, where it was hot and dry all day long, that he needed a day to himself somewhere he can relax. Kermit was thinking about so many places he could go like Greece, Hawaii, and Alaska. He wanted to go somewhere relaxing and beautiful, so he decided to go to Greece.

Kermit was excited to go to Greece because of the gorgeous views and scenery. Kermit had never been to Greece before, so he was looking forward to this trip. Kermit packed right away. He packed hats, summer clothes, and swimsuits. Kermit was packing, then suddenly his suitcase broke, and his swimsuit fell out. He had to buy another suitcase, and it took some money away from his savings for the trip. Kermit was scared he would not have enough money to go to Greece. He glanced at the clock, and realized he only had 20 minutes before the plane left! He hurriedly finished packing and rushed out the door.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer – a Capstone excerpt Malcolm Moore Gr. 5 Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said “thou shalt not kill”. He lived a long life trying to kill Hitler. He is courageous and I hope to be like him one day. Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived a sad life. He was born 2/6/1906 in Poland and he had 7 siblings. My first reason that he showed courage is that he was put in prison by Hitler. Second, his brother died when he was young. When it was time for Bonhoeffer to go to college, his college was influenced by Hitler and the college made Hitler an example of how we should all be. I can be courageous during my lifetime by being like Dietrich. I can stop the people that try and destroy the world, by being a peace maker. I can start helping the community by volunteering. I also can start a podcast about the bad people in the world. Lastly, I will try and be happy for my life.

Dietrich had a life full of pain and courage. As I continue to mature, I will try and be like him and his courageous acts. Dietrich’s legacy lives through his biography and textbooks.

Diligent Health Care Workers are Essential but Under-Valued Charles Ritch Gr. 7 To correctly analyze this situation, we must understand the value and privilege the athletes around the world have. In game 6 of last year’s MLB world series, Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman, Justin Turner, was reported to having COVID-19 in around the 7th inning (“As Game Six of the World Series...” 1). Turner was later taken out of the game but returned after the team won the title to celebrate out on the field mask-less with his teammates. This careless lapse of judgement echoed a loud assumption around the world of the athlete’s ignorance. I understand that after such an amazing victory it can be hard to give into the temptation of celebrating with your friends, however, it is important that we understand the seriousness of this pandemic and treat it with extreme caution so we can stop the spread. The monumental effect this pandemic has had on our society will go down in history, however, we must realize the efforts of our nation and others around the world, that have tried to “flatten the curve” in many ways. An example of an effort made by leaders around the world to stop the spread has been the stay-at-home order. The stay-at-home order is an executive order, made by a government system to stop the spread of an infectious disease (Campbell, 1). After the close analyzation of the severity of this virus, health care workers and political leaders decided to place a stay-at-home order on the areas of the U.S, suffering the most from COVID. Although the intentions of this effort seemed clear, many Americans around the nation neglected the order given, only damaging our nation more severely.

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Dinosaurs – an excerpt Madie Richard Gr. 3 Dinosaurs lived long ago. There are a lot of interesting facts about them. Tyrannosaurs Rex is a really famous dinosaur. Its remains can be found in many museums. There are still lots of bones to be found. It is a very big dinosaur. It can even take down a Brachiosaurus, the largest land animal that ever lived. It can also take down a Stegosaurus and an Allosaurus, a big carnivore. Another dinosaur is the Allosaurus. The Allosaurus is taller than the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Micro-raptor is a very small dinosaur with wings. It doesn’t use its wings for flying but uses them for gliding from tree to tree. The Titanoboa was a very large snake. It lived in many different lakes. It would swim around looking for food. Once it got its prey, it would take its tail and wrap it around, squeezing until it dies. It would then swallow it whole. There is also a type of shark called Prehistoric Shark. It lived in the deep seas. It lived during the Cretaceous period. It ate ancient fish and squid.

Do Baseball Pitching Mechanics Affect Throwing Speed?

Jordan Roebel Gr. 5 Pitching is an especially important aspect in baseball. Young pitchers often tend to have poor mechanics which limit throwing speed, and speed is important to be an effective pitcher and win games.

There are a variety of pitches to adjust throwing speed. The hypothesis was that the wind-up pitch would be faster than the stretch pitch because the wind-up allows more time to store power in a pitcher’s hip which would help the pitch’s velocity. The experiment was conducted using a baseball, radar gun, glove, net, and a pitching rubber. Five different pitches were conducted by four pitchers using the varying pitch types at 50 ft from home plate, and their speeds were recorded in miles per hour. Overall, the data points showed that the stretch was faster than the rest of the four pitch types, which did not support the hypothesis. My conclusion was that the stretch was faster than the wind-up pitch despite storing power in the pitcher’s hip. This could be due to the age of participants. This experiment relates to the real world because it helps pitchers figure out how to pitch and how to increase pitch speed to make an effective pitcher. In conclusion, although the hypothesis was not supported, I learned which pitch types resulted in which speeds and this can be useful information for a pitcher to have to help their team.

Doctor Doolittle Bennett Kreeger Gr. 5 I am applying for doctor/ veterinarian. I am qualified for this job because my parents are doctors, and they always try to teach me how to take care of people or animals when they are hurt. Another reason is I love helping others. I always try to help my friends when they are hurt and help my dog when he is hurt. Finally, I am a hardworking person. I always try to do a little extra when it comes to working on a project.

I attend Summit Country Day school and I feel my strengths are working as a team, following the instructions, but also improvising if I need to, and reading. I am in the middle school band; I have blue honors (which means I have all A’s) and I was awarded the smartest person in our cabin at Camp Ernst.

I feel I am the best person for this job because I am very organized. I clean up my workspace or bedroom when it I untidy. Mr. And Mrs. Claus, the elves, and the reindeer will be in good hands. I look forward to hearing from you.

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Does changing the varieties of grass affect how long it stays green? – a science fair abstract Baer Huttenbauer Gr. 5 The purpose of this experiment is to find the differences in grass greenness for different types of grass. Grass is green because the chlorophyll absorbs all other colors from the light to make food.

The test question for this experiment is “Does changing the varieties of grass affect how long it stays green?” My hypothesis was that Bent Grass will stay green longer than Tall Fescue grass . Both types of grass were grown in four scenarios, changing access to light and water each with four testing quadrants so that only one variable changed at a time: 1) keep light, keep water; 2) keep light, no water; 3) no light, no water; and 4) no light, keep water. A light source and water were used to keep different groups of grass alive. Each day, the grasses were compared to a color spectrum going from green to brown to see how long they stayed green. The result showed that Bent Grass had lower numbers on the spectrum which means that it stayed green longer. The scenario that had the greenest grass was the one without a grow light that was watered regularly. The results support the hypothesis that Bent Grass stayed green the longest. These results will help people to find the best grass to use for a lawn that stays green longer.

Does the Size or Shape of Newspaper Affect How Long It Will Burn as Kindling?

Jack Baker Gr. 5 My question is “Does the size or shape of paper affect how long it burns?” There are 3 things that fire needs to burn which are oxygen, fuel (like wood and paper) and energy. Also surface area makes a difference because oxygen molecules hit the surface more often when there is more surface area. I thought that the shredded paper would burn longer because fire likes surface area and shredded paper has a lot of surface area. Also shredded paper is not always flat. Fire likes to heat up more with surface area. I needed paper, a roaster pan, a lighter, a stopwatch and water for my experiment. I put the paper in the pan and held the lighter up to it for 5 seconds and timed the experiment. My hypothesis was wrong, crumbled paper burned the longest. I think this happened because air must get under so it can burn. Also, it had a lot of fuel and it was higher up, so it did not burn as quickly. This project will help people know how to start a fire. This is important for survival. Also, knowing what works best to start a fire will help me know how to prevent forest fires.

Dog Powers Abby Bastos Gr. 6 Harbor was no normal dog; she had superpowers! Harbor came from a litter of 12 and got sent away with her sister Sandy to live with a loving family. She was a normal dog until she had to go to the vet for her yearly checkup (which she hates) and they saw something weird. To get a closer look at it they shaved a patch of fur that was right in front of her tail. The vet said that she had a rare skin disease and could die any day now. The doctors injected her with something to try to make it better. A day later she felt weird and looked at the patch of skin that was infected and it was gone! Harbor also was able to fly and talk! Turns out she was injected with the wrong medication, and it made her have superpowers and healed her disease. Harbor’s sister Sandy found out that Harbor had superpowers and produced a plan to take them from her. She found a stone that could absorb anything so she would find the stone and give it to harbor, and it would absorb her powers. Then Sandy would take the powers out of the stone, and she would have the powers. Sandy got the stone, but harbor had found out and confronted Sandy! Sandy apologized and said that she just really wanted powers like her. Harbor produced an idea; she would take the medicine that made her get superpowers and give it to Sandy. The plan worked and they both had superpowers.

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Dolphin and Whales Rebeca Pérez Sánchez Gr. 3 Dolphins and whales are amazing animals. I will teach you about a few types of dolphins and whales.

Bottle nose dolphins are playful. They leap in and out of the water. You have probably seen them in an aquarium. They are with the type of dolphins that you can swim with. Bottlenose dolphins eat fish, squid, lobsters, shrimp, and crabs. Bottlenose dolphins surround schools of fish into a ball and bring them to the top of the water so the fish can’t escape this is called a bait ball. Orcas have black and white patterns. Orcas eat sharks, salmon, and small whales. Orcas even eat moose and deer. Orcas are social animals. Orcas have three names: orcas, killer whales, and wolves of the sea.

Effect of Sun and Chlorine on Hair – an abstract Hannah Mitchell Gr. 5 The purpose of this experiment was to test the effect of sun and chlorine on hair. My references said that sun does make hair lighter, and that chlorine has a little effect on hair but not a lot. Based on my research, I thought that hair would turn lighter when it was in the light and that it would have a little green tint to it after soaking in chlorinated water. I used 4 samples of hair and I changed one variable at a time to see how chlorine water and sun would affect hair: I put one in sun and chlorine, one in sun with no chlorine water, one with no sun and chlorine, and finally, one with no sun and no chlorine. After a couple of hours, I put the hair up against a color chart and measured which color it was closest to.

My experiment did support my hypothesis. It turned out that the hair that was in the sun and chlorine changed a ton. It started to crystallize, and it turned a noticeably light yellow and it was almost white.

However, the hair in chlorine didn’t have a little green tint to it like I thought it would. This experiment it important because it could help a lot of people like hairstylists and swimmers.

Elizabeth – a Sisters of Notre Dame excerpt Audrey Beltran Gr. 6 My name is Sister Elizabeth. At the convent, I have mostly been praying and worshiping God. I also have tea with the other sisters. I am good friends with sister Carmella. I keep everyone in order at the convent. The convent is a castle looking building in town. I am looking forward to traveling to America.

I think I can make a difference by spreading the love and teachings of God to many children. I have never been to New York City, but I know I will have a great time.

I have been on the Eliza Thorton ship for three weeks so far. I’m tired and get seasick. I see dolphins and other sea creatures such as sharks and big fish glide across the ocean waves. The Eliza Thorton has a ton of sails and some cannons. The weather has been stormy and rocks the ship, which makes me scared. I am very homesick, but I know I will have a great time in America. I just arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio. It’s nice, there are a lot of people and its very dusty. Cincinnati has a large river that in attached with Kentucky. Cincinnati also has a lot of dirt roads, little houses, and trees.

Elly Gross – a Capstone excerpt Lily Fecher Gr. 5 Elly Gross was very courageous. She lived through many hard times, but she kept going. I hope to live just like Elly Gross. She was born in Şimleu Silvaniei, Romania. She was 15 when the German troops took her away. Elly was very courageous throughout her lifetime. When she got put in a kettle car she snuck in a knife and carved a small hole for her family to breathe through. When she finally got to the camp she was placed in the kitchen where she stole potatoes and ate them. Gross also received secret shipments of food from her family. When Elly was working as a painter, she got sick and so she brought her blanket into work with her, even though she was not supposed to. Elly Gross was more courageous than most and that is why she survived so long.

She lived through many hardships, but she kept going. Most of Gross’s family died during the holocaust, but she survived. Elly Gross helped show us to hold steady even when it is hard. She was amazing and smuggled in food to survive. Elly Gross was so amazing, and I hope she inspires more people.

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Elon Musk Brian Sullivan Gr. 5 Elon Reeves Musk was born in Pretoria, South Africa. As a kid, Elon Musk taught himself how to program. When he was 12, he sold his first software: a game called blaster. Even though he was good with programming Elon musk was bullied until he was 15 when he started to learn to do karate and wrestling. At age 17 Elon moved to the United States to look for new opportunity. His first company he made was Zip2, which gave online software to newspapers. it was a failure but when he sold it, it gave him a lot of money. His second company SpaceX (which gave affordable space travel to normal people). It was starting to look like Zip2 at the start because his first 2 space flights were both failures but his falcon 9 and dragon both were a succuss which gave SpaceX some popularity. Elon Musk joined Tesla in 2004 after giving 6.3 million dollars in Tesla stocks. Now he is working on the design for the cyber truck along with Franz von Holzhausen. He has 7 children (X Æ A-Xi, Xavier, Nevada, Griffin, Saxon, Damian, and Kai).

End of the Internet Leah Berhanu Gr. 6 Police suspect it is in Antartica because there is a major Wi-Fi detection down there and people are on the case right now. I screamed “I NEED WIFI!” Her older brother woke because of her scream. He is 16 so obviously he had the smelly boy vibe. He was mad when I woke him up, so I told him and then he screamed. My dad then woke up and asked what was going on. We explained what has happened.

He answered before our little sister Ann woke up to. He told us that it could be a benefit and it would give the family spending time together.

No internet would hold their mom back from going to her online meeting. She received an emergency email letting her know that all meetings would be canceled until the crisis had been averted. Mom made pancakes for everyone while I made eggs. We ate breakfast with OJ. After breakfast, my mom suggested that we play board games. I went to the board game closet upstairs to see what games we should play. My brother told me to hurry up, so I grabbed a game we hadn’t ever played and was still in its packaging. It was called Feeley Meeley from 1967. I grabbed the game and took it downstairs. Ann was already down there eating pancakes and eggs. She finished up and we started the game.

England and the Boston Tea Party – an excerpt Stefen Karageorges Gr. 4 Before you learn about The Boston Tea Party, you need to understand the events a decade before it.

After the French and Indian War, which was fought between Great Britain and the colonists against the French and the Native Americans, England won the war and gained so much land, but the war cost them a lot of cash. England became poor and decided to tax the colonists. But these taxes were unfair.

The colonists were not represented even though they paid heavy taxes. The Stamp Act, The Sugar Act, The Townshend Acts, and finally The Tea Act were some of the ways that the British government tried to make money from the colonists. The Tea Act forced the colonists to only buy the expensive tea from the East India Company. This led to a protest we now call, The Boston Tea Party.

The Tea Party occurred was December 16, 1773. That day three ships called The Dartmouth, The Eleanor, and The Beaver came to the Boston Harbor. These ships where loaded with 92,000 pounds of tea. The Sons of Liberty, a group of protesters, demanded the ships sail back to England, but their governor, a loyalist, let the ships dock. So, at night, Samuel Adams, the founder of the Sons of Liberty led the Sons of Liberty to dump the tea on the ships into the harbor.

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Fairy Tale Times – an excerpt Anna Wiltshire Gr. 5 Siblings Hansel and Gretel became lost in the woods and stumbled upon a sugary house. They went close to have a bite, since they were starving, but a clever witch appeared out of the gingerbread door.

She offered the children a place to sleep, some food, and everything else they wanted, but little did the siblings know that the witch was secretly fattening them up so that she could eat them.

The witch then trapped Hansel in a cage and made Gretel her servant until Hansel had been eaten.

Since the witch had poor eyesight and decided to test how chubby Hansel was becoming frequently by his finger, Hansel had been secretly presenting a bone as his “finger” to the witch instead. When the witch became tired of waiting for him to become chubbier, she heated up the oven and was about to put Hansel in it when Gretel said the oven was not hot enough. The witch bent inside the oven to see, but then Gretel suddenly closed the oven door on the witch! The siblings escaped, taking many jewels and gold with them back home. They are now living in a resort downtown in Magic City.

The Family Who Read to Me Sasha Woodard Gr. 7 I have a mother who read to me. She would read me stories about girls just like she.

They would speak about the coils in my hair, and how to be nice, kind, and to share.

I have a father who read me fantasies. People who had large and small families.

They had powers and strengths that nobody knew of. But all of them knew the greatest power was love.

I have a sister who read me tales. The prince saved the princess and he never seemed to fail.

But she told me, “Girls can save people too,” “In our world, the girls are the glue.”

I have a brother who read me action. About heroes that were cool and full of attraction.

They knew what to do when the bad guy had come. After the battle they received a great some.

You may have a mother, father, sister, or brother, and I hope you all know you each love each other.

From this poem I know you can see that I have a family who read to me.

Family Work Caleb Driessen Gr. 7 I had a mother who read to me / Pirates and ships at the sea but when Halloween came, I was scared of the dark and then when I got outside there was a bark.

I had a grandmother who read me Seuss and tales of the mysterious wondering goose and all the Seuss books were funny and there was a Bunny I had a father who read me baseball I listened while I stared at the blank wall and on the crack of the bat then the bat sat on the mat I had a grandfather who read to me on the couch and one day there was a pouch and in the pouch there was a boat but the openly problem was the boat didn’t float Father – an excerpt Sophia Blackshaw-Brown Gr. 7 Fredrik always thought of a normal life, having a mother, a father, siblings and a nice house to stay at. But that wasn’t him. His family was fine at the start. He had a mom and a dad and a tiny 2-bedroom house. His life was normal until his mom died. Fredrik was 14 years old, and often wore a sweater and shorts. He had wavy hair and played tennis when he had the time. His dad was a grumpy man, always talking negatively, and always thinking he was a cowboy, wearing these old lizard boots. The only person he really cared about was Fredrik’s mom. The day Fredrik’s mom died was unforgettable, you might even call it murder. Throughout Fredrik’s life, his mom looked after him and cared about him.

He would never think that she would ever be killed especially by this person.

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The Feasting of a Water Buffalo – an excerpt Coleton Chadwell Gr. 7 It was late at night and Mr. Rellik the platypus was having dinner with a friend, Mr. Dellik the water buffalo. “What a beautiful night it is,” Mr. Dellik said.

“Yes indeed,” said Mr. Rellik., “Eat your ice cream, it’s getting warm.” Then the lights went off. After groping through the darkness for an hour, Mr. Rellik found the power box and switched it on. “There much better,” Mr. Rellik said. “Now what were you saying Mr. Dellik?” But Mr. Dellik was missing. So, Mr. Rellik called up some friends that he thought could help.

“Welcome to the Rellik Estate,” Mr. Rellik said cheerfully.

“Thank you,” said Mr. Tididi the chicken and Ms. Kiler the donkey in unison. Then a sound came from the vents and the lights violently shut off.

“HAHA,” said a voice outside. “Goodbye everyone and have a lovely night,” said Mr. Tididi in a strange voice that sounded like metal that was scraping another piece of metal.

“Mr. Tididi, are you okay?” said Mr. Rellik. Then the lights flickered on and Mr. Tididi had disappeared. “AHH!” Ms. Kiler shrieked.

Feet – The Best Part of Me Griffin Charville Gr. 5 The best parts of me are my feet. If I didn’t have feet I couldn’t ride my bike or run; I wouldn’t even be able to go to the store. With feet I can do many things. In conclusion, my feet are my favorite feature.

Fishing Trip Jack Devitt Gr. 4 Early in the morning when my mom and sister were asleep, me and my dad sneaked away on a trip.

We went to a fishing place in Florida. We met my dad’s friend there and fished in the Atlantic Ocean.

On the first day, we were in a medium sized boat and headed off the dock. My dad’s friend was driving.

It took 45 minutes to get to the Atlantic to our fishing spot. Then the sharks came. They were lemon sharks, and they were surrounding the boat. MORE, MORE AND MORE came! We were not scared; we were just watching them surround the boat. The sharks were afraid of the fishing rods, and they swam away.

Then we just went fishing again but sadly, we did not catch any fish. The best part was that I got to drive the boat most of the way back! When we got back to the dock, we were talking about next year!

Football Liam Fildes Gr. 3 If you don’t know about football, I will tell you. You are going to learn about positions, teams, and what football players wear. In football, positions on the field are where a player would lineup, and also what position they would play in a game. For example, the quarterback is a position; quarterbacks throw the ball. The wide receiver is the person who catches the football. The running back can rush the ball. My favorite team is the Bengals because I live in Cincinnati. There are thirty-two teams in the NFL. I have two different favorite players that play on the Bengals: Joe Burrow, and Tee Higgens. Football players wear pads, gloves, jerseys, and cleats. Players also wear a helmet to protect their head from injury. I hope you understand more about football and would like to try playing the sport.

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Footsteps of Crazy Horse – a book review Dillon Fox Gr. 6 This book begins in the rosebud reserve in South Dakota with a boy named Jimmy. Jimmy had lighter skin then the rest of his friends. He also has lighter hair and blue eyes, so he was made fun of there. He was made fun daily of because almost no one there had heard of a Lakota boy with light hair and blue eyes. After a day of school, his grandpa made him feel better by telling him about a Native American named Crazy Horse. He also had blue eyes and light hair, but this was before the US took over all of the native Americans’ land. Grandpa talked more about Crazy Horse and how he fought in the Battle of the Hundred in Hand and also was one of the leaders in the Battle of Little Big Horn. Also, Grandpa talked about how his grandpa saw Crazy Horse right next to him. After being told this, Jimmy felt much better about his light hair and blue eyes though sadly he was still made fun at school.

For the Best Mom Ever Grace Golden Gr. 5 Thank you for everything, I love you more than anything.

You make my happy when skies are gray, You make me upset when your away.

I love you so much mom, With your food I never leave a crumb!

You made me who I am today, I love you all the time, morning, night, and day.

Happy Mother’s Day, I wish it was every day!

There is no one like my mom, With all my problems, she overcomes.

Fred and Jade – an excerpt Elsa Hobbins Gr. 7 It was a blistering hot day in spring, Fred and Jade were playing in the birdbath. It was so much fun they were splashing and dancing around in the water. When they checked the time, it was already 9pm!

They had to go wake up Luna for her nightly duties. Everything was normal for Luna until she saw something. Something not normal for this type of weather. It was frost! Out in the distance there was frost! She had to go alert the other fairies this was not good. The frost meant that the snow army was coming, fairies can’t survive in the snow. The fairies were going to get through this. They all worked together to make sure it was safe. Right when they weren’t expecting it, the snow army came! They were freezing the whole land. They had to get everyone out of there.

Free Mickey Parker Sougstad Gr. 6 There was a mouse named Mickey. He lived right next a nuclear reactor. Then it exploded. Mickey woke to see what happened. He had some cheese, ate it, then he grew excessively big. Mickey had giant muscles that could punch fast and fly through the air. He was invincible, except his power ran out after an hour. He realized that the nuclear reactor altered his DNA. Then his best friend, Gerrold the cat, was now a villain was terrorizing the city. He started to fight Gerrold to protect his wonderful city.

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Frederick Douglass – a Capstone excerpt Daniel Borman Gr. 5 Frederick Douglass lived a long life fighting for equality. Frederick Douglass was born on February 4th, 1818 in Tuckahoe, Maryland. Shortly after he was born, he was sent to work on a farm. When he was about 16 years old, he was still working on farms but soon escaped. Frederick’s mom died when he was about 8 so he only got to write to his mom a couple of times over the years. Frederick had 3 children named Lewis, Anne, and Frederick Jr. Frederick Douglass died on February 20th, 1895.

Frederick Douglass showed courage throughout his life. People made fun of him because of the color of his skin, but he did not care what they thought, he just kept working to end slavery. He did this by joining the Union of the United States of America. This shows courage because he was not being selfish and only helping himself, he was helping all people of color. He went to black rights movements to fight for equality. This shows me to always help others no matter who they are. Frederick Douglass showed courage throughout his life.

With these examples of courage, I can be courageous during my lifetime. Since Frederick Douglass set these examples of courage, I will never give up like Frederick never gave up. I will always stick up for someone if they are being made fun of because of the color of their skin. Lastly, I could live on Frederick Douglass’ legacy by never being selfish and always helping others in need. This is how I am going to live on Frederick Douglass’ legacy.

Fun Playing Soccer Max Adams Gr. 3 Soccer is fun when you get the hang of it. There are 11 players on the team including a goalkeeper.

To get better you must practice just like in every sport. There are a lot of trophies to soccer, but I will start with the common ones. The World Cup, the La Liga Cup, the British Cup, the American Cup, the Argentine Cup, the German Cup, the Curron cup, the European Cup, the Greek Cup. The World Cup to win it you must play The World Match. The European Cup you must be the best in Europe at Soccer.

Soccer and a lot of other sports help your health. It can reduce your risk of heart failure, disease, type 2 diabetes and sickness. It burns calories and fat. It is good for your strength and heart. There are a lot of matches. The World Cup match is when teams play for the World Cup. The team that wins gets a World Cup. The La Liga match is when you play for the Golden Boot. That is when you get promoted for the best team in the world. The regular matches are played when the person with the most points win.

Galapagos Tortoise Charlie Jenkins Gr. 4 The Galapagos tortoise is an endangered species of tortoise that lives on the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of South America. The Galapagos tortoise is a very large tortoise. As an adult it can measure up to five feet in length and stand almost 3 feet tall. The tortoise can weigh over 600 pounds. They are black, brown, and green in color. This helps the tortoise blend into its surroundings.

The Galapagos tortoise lays up to 16 eggs at a time. The eggs are about the size of a pool ball. For between 100-160 days the eggs are incubated in a sandy nest that the mother has dug. The length of the incubation period is affected by the temperature. After incubation, the tortoise hatchlings dig out of the sand. These is a very scary time for the little tortoises. They are preyed on by hawks, buzzards, pigs, and other animals. The Galapagos tortoise has several adaptations. The tortoise’s neck has evolved to be longer because of the food supply on the islands. They also have a hard domed shell that they pull their head and limbs into if in danger. It also allows the tortoise to extend its head further to reach food.

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Genesis – a book review excerpt Rylee Jewell Gr. 6 Genesis is thirteen and lives in Detroit. There are about ninety-six reason she doesn’t like herself; she even keeps a list. She is persistent to change herself and her family no matter what. The number one thing she hates about herself is her color. She thinks that she is too black, she tries to find remedies even if it’s hurting her. During this quest, she moves to Farmington Hills where all the rich people are.

Even though Genesis moves all the time it is still hard for her to be the new kid. While at her school she makes friends even with the poplar girls. Her music teacher gets her into music and singing, she gets into the talent show. Even though she doesn’t win, she finds a way to love herself even with her family’s main problems. Her father’s alcoholism and not having light skin.

Gathering Blue – a book review Cammy Lorentz Gr. 7 Annabella, a bent, white-haired, old woman, teaches Kira about dyeing threads and reveals an unknown secret. She lives deep in the woods to obtain as much privacy and serenity as possible. She has Kira come to her cot frequently and makes Kira memorize every color dye with its plant that is used to color that thread. As Kira gets to know Annabella, the old woman starts to hint untrue rumors and lies that are within the community, including that “there be no beasts” (Lowry 110). Annabella gives her life to reveal the secret of the beasts and blue to hopefully set Kira up on the right path to impact the future.

Ghost Boys – a book review Megan Bastos Gr. 6 The book Ghost Boys is about a boy around the age of 13 named Jerome got shot by a police officer and died because he was holding a toy gun in his pocket and the police thought it was real. That same day that he got shot he was with his new friend that he made that day. Some kids were trying to bully Jerome, and Carlos while they were eating lunch above a toilet, so Jerome’s friend pulled a fake gun out and the kids though it was real, so they ran away. When school was over that day Carlos asked Jerome if he wanted to use the fake gun to play games outside and Jerome accepted but when he did, he went outside to play with it between the street and then a policeman drove by and shot him. Jerome then felt his soul lift upon him and then new he was dead. When Jerome went up into this place it was empty and no one was there he walked around, and no one could see him but when he walked near people who were alive, they moved like he was there. Jerome went all over town and saw his family crying in his bedroom. When Jerome was in the courtroom watching his parents there was one girl who could see and talk to him. The girl was the policeman’s daughter that shot Jerome. The girl was so upset with her father about what he did, so the girl Sarah and Jerome talked a lot together. Sarah started doing good things and made a lot of websites to stop racism. In this place with all the ghost boys Jerome learned that racism is still happening today, and it needs to be stopped.

Give Suffrage to Those Who are 16! – an excerpt Sydney Brinkman Gr. 7 Should the minimum voting age be lowered from 18 to 16? Some may believe that 16 is too young of an age to vote, or that they do not show enough responsibility to be able to vote. However, those who are 16 show maturity and independence with driving and schoolwork. Voting rights have been changed throughout our country’s history and statistics show that we need new ranges of ideas. The best way for that would be to lower the voting age which allows more young voters to have an impact on our country and a greater voter turnout. If we trust them to drive, we should allow them to vote. The voting age should be lowered to 16 because at that age teenagers show responsibility, have independence and equal opportunities which can be proved by examining voting rights throughout our country’s history.

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Giver – a book response excerpt Faye Edmondson Gr. 6 Hello, my name is Faye, and I’m 11 years old. My assignment is an engineer, and I’m glad that I got this as my assignment because being an engineer is so much fun, intriguing, and enjoyable. I live right

by The Factory, which is nice because I go there a lot. My mom is a doctor, and my dad is a speaker. I have always wondered what other jobs are in the Elsewhere, and hopefully, there’s potential to know that one day. An important building in the community is the Central Plaza. It’s crucial to me because that’s where I work, because I’m an engineer. Also, it’s where a lot of things in our community are made, so it’s also a necessity. It’s also important because we have a lot of art hung up in there, so a lot of people visit the place to see the abstract art. The Central Plaza also has a delicious restaurant in it, and a lot of people enjoy it.

Goldfish Andrew Lam Gr. 6 Have you ever heard of Goldfish – the snack that smiles back? Well, it was inspired by the ultimate hero – The Deceased Goldfish. It began in 1982, in Alaska. A cat, which was injected with a secret formula, a fishy-power-juice (pure and organic, with 0 added sugars!) named El Gato de Fishy. “We meet agai- well actually this is the first time we’ve met but ok – my perfect little fish. I want to gobble wobble you up – RIGHT MEOW!!!” He ate the fish and spit out its bones. The next day... the fish was gone! Meanwhile in another country, the fish was disguised in his secret identity as a scientist. On the other hand, he is a super crime fighting hero known as FISHY-WISHY. He regained his fins and flesh and has amazing superpowers: slaps people with his SLAPPY FINS. He is truly the greatest superhero of all time.

Gupta Empire – an excerpt Sam Hinton Gr. 7 “The Golden age of the Gupta Empire started and peaked with the reign of Candra Gupta II, who ruled from 375 to 415 CE, and he claimed to be a universal emperor” (ancienthistory/596659). People in the Gupta Empire practiced Hinduism and flourished under their leader’s patronage, so much that they built shines, sculptures, paintings, and temples to honor Hinduism. The Guptas also practiced other faiths such as Buddhism and Jainism and the caste system was a big part of this empire (ancienthistory/2217662). Trade flourished inside the empire around this time, selling and buying cotton, silk, medicine, spices, pearls, gems, steel, and metal. An iron pillar was made, and people interpret it to say that trade relations improved (ancient.eu). “A proper army for classical Indian doctrine included infantry, cavalry, chariots, and an elephant corps and law in classical India was not considered a product of legislation or royal decree but instead was a fulfillment of dharma. Law codes of the Gupta times show a greater preoccupation with property rights than earlier times, showing a society custom and changing conditions as well as codified laws. The Gupta monarchs did not take part directly in economic activities probably because of the vigorous and well-organized mercantile and banking. The monarchs created an effective court system, and the Gupta court was a helping court for learning and literature in classical Sanskrit.

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Gym EJ Gay Gr. 4 Gym is my favorite class because you get to exercise, play cool games and most of all because you get to cheer for your classmates. My favorite part of gym class is that there’s a lot of teamwork-based games like Polo. One day when I was playing Polo and there was a penalty shot and one person from the other team stood in front of the goal with a ball. Everyone else would stand outside of the goal and the person in front of the goal tried to get a goal. It almost hit the goal and the goalie got it just it time!

It was awesome! Another reason I like gym is that I get to exercise. For example, at the beginning of class we do jumping jacks, pushups, burpees, and sit ups. It makes me confident because when I exercise or run, I feel confident in myself. It is great feel these positive feelings! Another reason I like gym is that I get to play games while exercising. For example, I get to play a game called Polo. It is like soccer but with one ball for each team. Another game I like is Dead Ants. One person is Raid and the other people are ants. If you are tagged four people pick you up or drag you and put you down on a mat. This is a really fun game. The last reason gym is my favorite class is that you get to cheer for your teammates.

Gymnastics Meets Giulia Rassi Gr. 3 Gymnastics is a fun sport to do but takes a lot of practice. Boys and girls can do it. There are many different events. There is floor, beam, bar, and trampoline. When you are on bar you have a routine back hop circle jump to high bar repeat. You will practice a lot then; the competition day comes but all the practice pays off. It is finally your turn; you grab the bar jump to high bar and swing, you land on the mat and suddenly you hear clapping. The day goes quickly, but it is fun. When you get on the beam you will start your routine. Each routine is different. Some will do back handsprings, front tucks, and back walkovers. When you end a routine, you will swing your arms up and jump off the beam and walk back to your group. Now, when you do floor, you have a routine and music. When it is your turn, you walk out and wait for the music to start. The music starts, you start your routine; back handspring, round off the back tuck. Then the music stops, and the judges announce your score. Then you walk off.

Hamsters – an excerpt Olivia Elfenbein Gr. 3 Many people have hamsters. Here are some things you need to know to keep your hamster happy!

To clean your hamster’s cage, first you need to take the hamster out of the cage. Then you get a spray can and a cloth. After that, you need to take all the bedding out of your hamster’s cage. Then you take the spray can and spray every part of the page that you can. Next, wipe it down with the cloth. When it’s dry, place in new bedding. The last step is to put your hamster back in the cage, and now you are done!

Happy Mother’s Day Kayla Dwyer Gr. 5 I always think what an extradentary mom you are.

You and I rock out volleyball together, with some sugar just for us.

Thanks for always being there for me and being ready to cuddle.

Your skills are amazing in everything you do so I hope I can be like you.

You are the reason that I am always happy but sometimes I get snappy.

My mom is the bomb and that won’t change.

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Half a World Away – a book review Sophia Suwiryo Gr. 6 The story of Half A World Away was about discovering the power of love that deals with adoption.

Twelve-year-old Jaden was adopted from Romania four years ago from the orphanage where he grew up. He was abandoned by his biological mother at the age of four then he shuttled to several foster homes before being adopted by an American couple, Steve and Penni. Jaden was not adapting well with his new family in America although, his adoptive parents were loving and kind. He had been through years of counseling and his parents, especially his adoptive mother, never gave up on him, but Jaden still lied, stole, and consciously manipulated his adoptive parents. When Penni, Steve, & Jaden traveled to Kazakhstan to adopt another baby, Jaden was more convinced than ever that his adoptive parents were preparing to replace him. Jaden’s feelings were mixed. On one hand, he was afraid the baby will supplant his role in the family and that he would be neglected. On the other, he was interested to visit Kazakhstan and felt sorry for the orphans he visited because he knew and understood better than anyone what they were going through. The adoption didn’t quite go as they planned. While visiting the orphanage in Kazakhstan, Jaden was drawn to a toddler named Dimash. He found himself increasingly intrigued and worried about Dimash instead of the baby they were hoping to adopt. For the first time in his life, Jaden actually felt something and there was no way to control it and this was what we called the power of love.

Harry Potter – an excerpt Molly Sullivan Gr. 3 Many people have read and enjoyed the Harry Potter series. The books always leave you wanting more. J.K. Rowling is the author of Harry Potter. She first worked as a secretary before she wrote Harry Potter. After that, she went on a train to Manchester and had the idea for Harry Potter. She always was an incredibly good writer. J.K. Rowling used things from her own life to make Harry Potter. For example, she made dementors after fighting depression when her mother died. She made Quidditch after having an argument with her boyfriend. Bludgers in the place of insults, the Golden Snitch in the place of when the argument ends, and the Quaffle in the place of scoring insults.

There are 3 main characters in Harry Potter. Their names are Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, and Hermione Granger. Hermione is definitely the smartest. She is great in all her classes. Ron is the clumsiest.

He is still a very good character. Harry is the bravest. He is really good at defense against the dark arts.

I Have Sabian Swan Gr. 7 I have a mother that reads to me, stories of dragons and beasts and far off lands, Cities filled with culture and love, seasons where snow covers the ground.

I have grandparents that read to me, tails of kings and queens, places where dragons fly, Where knights fill the streets.

I have a father that reads me myths, of places where one eyed beasts roam islands, Where warriors fight to impress their king, Where heroes emerge in the face of danger and stand up for what’s right.

I have a sister that reads to me in a language like no other, stories of people talking to the moon, Where trees give all they have for us, where animals protect us from beasts.

You may have a mansion with everything you desire; rooms filled with tv’s and gaming consoles.

You will never be happier than me, for I have a family that reads to me.

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Hedgehog Leelah Mason Gr. 6 My super pet is a hedgehog. Her superpower is invisibility. My pets name is Naomi. Naomi got her powers when she was born. She is lucky to get superpowers because not every animal gets them. She was the first animal to get powers. She is showing a new power. When she walks, she begins to float.

Naomi runs in to a problem in her life. One day she was walking alone and suddenly someone takes her away. She is now kidnapped and nowhere to be found. We never know what happens next.

The Heist in Outer Space – an excerpt Kadyn Keeney Gr. 7 The No-Face was one of the strongest beings on Mars. Suddenly the No-Face leaped at him, but with his heart pounding Kai shot the No-face and killed it, but it turns out that he had just stunned it for a second and it got up almost immediately, it tried to attack him again but fell over with a dart in his back. Ghost had somehow snuck up behind it and taken it down.

“It won’t be out for long, so we better get going,” Ghost said.

So, they started to run down the hallways carrying the diamond in their bag. When they got out, they didn’t have their uniforms on, just their spacesuits. The guards went on lockdown. All the guards started to chase them, and even worse the No-Face had gotten back up and fired a beam right towards them but luckily, they had tripped, and the beam missed them and hit the guards. Then they ran into their spaceship they rammed No-Face. Taking it out for good.

Helen Keller – a Capstone excerpt Lilly Yarnell Gr. 5 Helen Keller lived a courageous life. I can strive my best to be like Helen when I grow up. Helen Keller lived an awesome life. Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880. She was born in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

In 1882 Helen developed a high fever, her parents didn’t think Helen would make it. When Helen had a fever, she loses her sight and hearing, they think it was caused by scarlet fever. 5 years later, Annie Sullivan arrives to start teaching Helen. In March of 1890 Sara Fuller teaches Helen how to speak.

Helen Keller passed away in 1968 in Westport, Connecticut.

Henry – an excerpt Callie Fox Gr. 7 When the train stopped, I ran onto the bridge to save Henry without thinking. But the dog wasn’t Henry! It was just a random dog, chasing after the train. The real Henry tried to go to the bridge to save me, but it was too late. His weight made the bridge crack. I watched in horror as both dogs and the train plummeted into the ravine below.

“Henry!” I screamed. My cry echoed through the ravine, sounding ghostly. There was no response. I cried for what seemed like hours, standing on the edge of the bridge, looking down at the train crushed hundreds of yards below me. My dog, whom I had loved, was gone forever. I would never get to see Henry again.

As I looked back at the field, I noticed that others were oblivious to me on the tracks. Even the police who had come to help didn’t notice me; they were too busy helping those with serious injuries. I had an injury too. It was called heartbreak. Henry was gone forever, and I would get fired for not being at my meeting. My whole life had fallen apart in an hour just because some terrorists decided to hijack my train. When I believed my life couldn’t be any worse, the bridge collapsed, and I fell with it, dropping off the bridge to my death.

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Hieroglyphics Kaitlyn Rassi Gr. 7 Hieroglyphics were developed in 3150-2613 B.C.E. in Egypt (ancient.eu). The early hieroglyphics were first discovered in the tomb of Himakar (ancient.eu). The last datable form of hieroglyphics was found in an island of the philia where a temple was inscribed in hieroglyphics; it was carved in 394 A.D. (bbc.co.uk). Hieroglyphics are the oldest version of script (ancient.eu) and the first culture to document their history (Britannia.com).

Hieroglyphic’s mean “the word of the gods” (discoverydinyegypt.com). They can be written on temples, walls, tombs, and jewelry and other objects for the pharaohs (discoverdinyeygpty.com). Only scribes can write hieroglyphics because they were so complicated and took years of training to write and scribe them (Ducksters.com). Scribes started training at the age of six or seven years old (Ducksters.com). The scribes don’t have to pay taxes or enter the army (Ducksters.com). Only wealthy children got to be trained on how to be scribes (Ducksters.com).

History of Dogs Maddie Burns Gr. 3 Dogs are related to one wolf breed. Domestic dogs are one of the branches of animals in the wolf family. Some other branches of the world family are dingos, foxes, and other types of wolves. Way back in the sixteenth century, farmers started to raise wolves. The first people to get dogs were the queens ands kings. A few months later people started to make wolves pets. After that, a lot of people bought wolves. Once a lot of people bought wolves the bond between wolves and their owners became very strong. The bond was almost unbreakable.

In the late sixteen hundreds the wolves started to evolve into dogs. Slowly but surely the bond between wolves and humans became stronger and stronger every day. Once they evolved completely, they started to become house pets.

Nowadays, almost everyone has a dog. They are very popular pets all over the world. Some dogs come from China, others come from England, Australia, and America. You can find out more about the history of dogs at the National Geographic Kids’ website.

Homi J. Bhabha – a research paper excerpt Ellen Love Gr. 7 Homi J Bhabha was a smart man, and he did many things in his life. He was a nuclear physicist who made important contributions to the quantum theory and cosmic radiation. He is known as the “father of Indian nuclear program,” and was also the first Chairman of The Atomic Energy Commission of India. Homi J Bhabha made a huge impact on todays scientific standards, and the nuclear world.

Homi Jehangir Bhabha was born on October 30, 1909 (Britanica). He was born into a rich aristocratic family (Britanica). He is the son of Jehangir Bhabha and the former Meherbani Framji Panday (Encyclopedia). He is also connected to the Tata family through the marriage of his aunt, Meherbani, to Sir Dorab Tata (Encyclopedia). He attended Cathedral High School in Bombay from 1916 to 1925 (Encyclopedia). After that, he began preparing for the Senior Cambridge Examination at Elphinstone College and the Royal Institute of Science in that city (Encyclopedia). Bhabha began studying mechanical engineering at Cambridge in 1927 (Encyclopedia). Originally, he wanted to study mechanical engineering, but later developed a love for physics (Britanica).

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Hotdog Stand – an excerpt Marcel Huguet Gr. 7 Todd is an active, young monkey who lives in Burundi with his dad, Tyrone, and his sister Felicia.

Todd is a kind and tall monkey for his age. Todd has always wished for a hot dog stand. Todd wishes to get the hot dog stand from Rwanda because they have the best hot dogs in Africa. Tyrone wants to get the stand for Todd to make him happy. Tyrone is a very hard-working man hat cares about his son and daughter. Tyrone works as a recycling pickup man. Tyrone has gotten his children many gifts, but not the gift that Todd has wished for throughout his life.

Todd has been working hard at work and has been trying to get the money he needs to buy the stand and to get money to travel to Rwanda. Tyrone then remembers that he had to get a gift for Felicia, so he bought her a banana telephone. Tyrone had to get all his money back from giving Felicia her phone, so Tyrone started going to work again and managed to get his money back in 5 days.

How does the type of flour I use affect how quickly my sourdough starter develops enough air bubbles to allow it to float?

Vivian Gibbs Gr. 5 Natural yeast starter can be made from flour and water and be used to make sourdough bread. Starter contains yeast and bacteria. Science doesn’t know where exactly the yeast and bacteria in sourdough starter comes from. For my experiment, my testable question was “how does the type of flour I use affect how quickly my sourdough starter develops enough air bubbles to allow it to float?” My hypothesis was that the rye flour starter would become active fastest because it has more of the germ and bran that is in flour before it is milled. For my materials, I used flour, water, glass jars, plastic wrap, rubber bands, labels, a thermometer, spoons, measuring cups, water, and a knife. For my procedure, I added flour and water into the glass jars, kneaded the mixture, checked for air bubbles, covered the glass jars in plastic wrap and repeated these steps over 6 days. My results were that the bread flour was the only type of flour that floated in water; also, that the rye flour was never quite as active as the other types of flour. My conclusion was that the data wasn’t even close to supporting my hypothesis. I know this because the bread flour was the first and only type of flour that floated. My experiment is important because if people like bread they want to know how to make it and what flour to use.

How to Dye a Goose Blue – an excerpt Rosie Gieseke Gr. 7 It is finally Summer. I made it through going virtual for half of a year; it is time for the Summer of 2021! Now I get to spend a whole summer with my best friend, Lola! I am Macy. I live in Nevada, and I am 9 years old. I woke up this morning excited because today I knew I was going on a walk with Lola! I ate my breakfast and then went to meet Lola at her house. She was excited too. We live so close together, so it was easy to get to her house. Once Lola is all ready, we set off for a summer adventure. We start walking towards the main trail in our neighborhood, Maple Creek, a beautiful sight with birds on the trees and golden fish in the ponds. I thought to myself, I remember how we used to go there when we were little; it has so much nature, and I love it!

When we make it to the trail, we hear some scuffling noise behind us, I turn behind me but all I see is a flash of white.

“I don’t know,” Lola says sounding frightened. “This place seems creepier than last time.”

“It’s fine,” I replied. Then, as we walked through the tree covered alley, we heard a quack!! At that moment, a white, bushy tailed, creature came out of the bushes, was it, a goose? It was a goose!

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How to Teach Your Puppy Tricks Dominic Montaque Gr. 4 I’m going to teach you how to train your puppy. It is important to teach your puppy tricks because they can learn different ways to obey you. It is also fun to play with your puppy when they know how to do tricks. First trick to teach your puppy to learn the trick sit you need to get the dogs attention. Then you give him or her the command and if the puppy doesn’t do the trick try to give the command when the puppy is looking at you.

It is important to tell your puppy to lay down when your puppy is bothering people or jumping on couches or disturbing the neighborhood. You need to teach your puppy to stop and lay down. The first thing you do is get your puppy’s attention. Next, you must give your puppy the command. If they learn the trick in one or four tries, then give them the reward.

When you come home and when you are done eating and go on the couch your puppy might go on the couch with you. If she sits on her behind and scratches you, give her a handshake. My puppy taught herself to ask me to give her a handshake. You can teach your puppy to give paw in different ways.

Hydrogen Peroxide Huck Bortz Gr. 5 Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an immensely popular main ingredient in whitening toothpaste.

Hydrogen peroxide is a colorless bleaching agent that is used to cleanse cuts and remove stains. My question was which purity of hydrogen peroxide whitens teeth best. My hypothesis was that 7% H2O2 would work best because it is concentrated enough that it will eat plaque and not damage the enamel. I did my experiment by brushing eggshells with the toothpaste concoctions and comparing the whiteness level to a color scale I made from white to red paint chips. All the toothpastes whitened the eggshells at least a little bit, but 6% H2O2 worked the best. I found these results surprising because I thought that 6% wouldn’t be concentrated enough and that 7% was as low as you could go before you start sacrificing the way the bleaching agent works. My experiment can help the world because it can help people know how to make the most effective toothpaste.

I Lived on Butterfly Hill – a book review excerpt Tessa Dennemann Gr. 6 My book, I Lived on Butterfly Hill, was about a girl named Celeste Marconi who lives in Chile. She lived with her grandma, Nana, and her parents happily. At the beginning of the book, Celeste noticed large ships in the harbor. When Celeste asked her parents about the ships, they did not answer and changed the subject. Later Celeste’s parents told her that the government was trying to ‘take over’.

After that, she kept hearing about people disappearing and people, mostly adults, were acting strange.

Eventually the president was killed because he was trying to help people. After that, Celeste’s parents leave to hide because they got threats from people because they were doctors. A few months after her parents left, Celeste also left to go to her aunt’s house in Maine.

Immortal Curse Abigayle Penote Gr. 6 Here is little back story on the immortal curse, it started with this man that did not believe in scary creatures, like witches and goblins. One day a witch overheard him saying that he does not believe in scary creatures. They were made for Halloween and decorations. The witch got mad, so she decided to make a curse. The curses rules were that if someone doesn’t believe in creatures like her, they will turn to stone on Halloween night. My parents turned to stone Halloween night, but luckily, I was young, and I thought everything was real, even aliens, but my remembrance of that day is very little. This witch must die to break the curse. The only way she can die is if you show the clown doll. So, I went to the witch’s lair to defeat her. I showed her the clown, and she died. The curse was broken, but all the people that turn to stone will stay as stone.

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Internet Crashes TJ Yarnell Gr. 6 One day the internet completely crashes. It will not be returning. When I found out about this, I was so disappointed. No more computer, no more phones, and no YouTube. I also wondered what would happen with social media. If you have no internet there is no communication so how are we going to communicate if we can only communicate in person? This was also a good thing because it will give people a chance to play outside and be active and not play on a screen all day. But at the same time people could be very mad about losing the internet, and it could cause a lot of riots. I think the world will be quite different because we will be losing a lot of technology because a lot of it needs the internet to work. This would also cause a lot of old technology to return. This would also break the economy because with internet you cannot use your credit card and if you had your money stored in a tower at the bank you would not be able to access it. Another problem would be you could not communicate with planes and ships, so it would be difficult to transport goods and track them. If the internet went away, it would not be the end of the world but it would cause a lot of problems Internet Ends Théo Ginggen Gr. 6 During this time protests would break out. The government would be blamed, and nuclear missiles would be launched. War would break out; people would be laid off, the economy would take a dive, and the planet would start fracturing under the pressure of missiles and large explosions. Elon Musk would fly to Mars. The rest of us would be stuck in a post-apocalyptic world. We would have to start over. Sure, we could still have some modern tech. But we would need to reinvent wireless data transfer.

Computers could still be used with no connection. So, we would rebuild wireless transfer using a revamped version of fiber optics. The internet would be back up. Without the internet, we would crumble in this ever-dependent society. Nourishment and transportation rely on the internet. We would survive but a week without wireless data transfer. Even things such as medications and robotic implants would depend on the internet to be powered and delivered. And even in more extreme cases, the internet would be accompanied by wireless power transfer. SO WE WOULD NEED INTERNET FOR POWER. Cables would no longer exist; wires would be eradicated. Then if the internet failed truly the planet Earth would be rid of humans.

Iran Nuclear Deal – an excerpt Aaron Fraley Gr. 7 The Iran Nuclear deal is a questionable agreement because of the US’s past and present relationship with Iran, future plans for nefarious activities in their own as well as other countries, violations of certain agreements, and repeated backing of extremist groups. The Iranians interfere in other wars and are a growing threat. While this is a controversial topic, the facts will always be facts, and the death counts, and injuries are all the same. The Iran Nuclear deal was a policy implemented by the Obama Administration and later abolished by the Trump White House. The Iran Nuclear deal was an important example of how bargains don’t always go the way you planned.

Iran has used some funds from the deal to sponsor anti-US movements and operations. Iran is responsible for one out of every six US deaths in Iraq (Times of Israel). In January of 2020, Iran launched barrages of Missiles at two major airbases in Iraq, including Al-Asad air base, which houses 1,500 troops, in which many were wounded and in concussion protocols. (Military Times, Times of Israel). Extremist groups such as Ka’tib Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al-Haq have all been sponsored by Iran.

(State.gov). Iran has also bombed oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, an ally to the US. (reuters.com) Iran uses funds to back terrorist groups and anti-US operations.

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Italy Alice Sofia Gr. 3 Italy is a beautiful place to visit and live in. I know because I once lived there. Most people visit Rome more than any other city in Italy. The most famous place in Rome is the Colosseum. There are also more beautiful places in Rome. In Rome there are a lot of magnificent parks, and trails. Rome is the capital of Italy.

The food in Italy is good and delicious. The most popular foods are pasta, pizza, and cookies. My favorite type of pasta is spaghetti with tomato sauce. The most popular pizza is the cheese pizza, but there are lots of other types of pizzas. In Italy most people eat cookies for breakfast that are hard to chew, so they dip the cookies in their coffee.

If you go to Italy you’ll never be bored because there is always fun things to do! In Italy, there are a lot of amusement parks, and they are huge! (A lot of people like going there.). Most amusement parks have drinks and food, but kids are never interested in foods and drinks. Kids come to the amusement parks to play and have fun.

Jacksonville – a rabbit story excerpt Jacob Heimbouch Gr. 6 The town the rabbits live in is Jacksonville. They also play in the forest there and drink from the river. They have a business where they sell Easter eggs. They make different designs and colors. They also play a lot of fun games together and sometimes they make up their own Olympics games. They go on a family vacation to Jacksonville Beach. When they get down there on the beach, there is a disruption.

They see a hunter and feel unsafe. After they lose him, they run back to their forest where they live.

They then go back to their friends and drink some water. After they drink the water and eat some food, they then play some games and after all of them have a little fun just playing around they then start to do some Olympics and one of them is the judge.

Jamaica Izze Montaque Gr. 3 Jamaica is glorious with all its beauty, but nothing can compare to what’s in it. I know my parents are from Jamaica. I’m going to tell you about sugar cane coconuts, and beaches.

The sugar cane is great. If you ever want to eat it you must use a machete to chop it down, skin it, and chop it into bits that can fit in your mouth, it tastes great, but don’t swallow the inside, just drink the juice. Sugar canes look like a green skinny tree on the outside, and looks white on the inside. And, sugar cane is just one of the tasty treats of Jamaica.

Coconuts are popular in Jamaica, and they are always shown in cartoons. Sometimes they get hit in the head with one in the cartoons! Usually, when coconuts are ready they’re brown, and when they’re brown they’re old. The green ones are the new, unripe ones. The inside of a coconut is white. Coconuts don’t only have milk in them, they also have jelly. Coconuts look like a green oval-shaped bowling ball without holes, and when they’re ripe and old they look like a brown hairy one.

Jane Goodall – a Capstone excerpt Olivia Beltran Gr. 5 “Every Individual matters. Every Individual has a role to play. Every individual makes a difference.”

As I learned about Jane Goodall this quote made more sense to me. Jane Goodall born in England made her way to Africa to study chimpanzees. She made some of the most important discoveries about them and saved many from captivity. Jane Goodall suffered many losses but still studies chimpanzees and helps save them. Jane Goodall dedicates her life to the earth and inspires people as she does it.

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Josella – a Sisters of Notre Dame excerpt Cailyn Youtsey Gr. 6 Sister Josella was hastily sprinting around with swift speed finishing her convent duties as a nun.

As she was entering her office, she saw a letter on the doorknob. The letter, slightly smudged, invited Sister Josella to come to America to teach the people about God and his word. Sister, very excited indeed, said goodbye to all of the nuns she knew for years and probably wouldn’t see again and then went home and packed her bags. Sister Josella was very excited because she was going to a country that had so much potential in its grip but needed to use it in order to be successful, Sister planned to unlock this potential in her own small way by bringing the word of God. So, the moment she could boarded the Eliza Thornton, the ship that would take her to America.

The Eliza Thornton was docked in the east side of Namur’s shipping port and was crowded with the town’s people going about doing their daily duties and chores for the day, noise of people talking, animals snorting, and wheels rolling filled the crisp air of the town. As the steam powered engine on the boat honked its loud noise, Sister hurriedly walked up to the ramp and boarded the Eliza Thornton.

The boat was cramped, old, and rocky and it was overall very claustrophobic. Everyday Sister Josella woke up to what felt like a jail cell that she couldn’t escape. It was a journey of three long and hard weeks before the passengers even got to set eyes on America’s coastline, but when they did it was a glorious sight.

Kangaroo Laney Hodge Gr. 6 My super pet would be a kangaroo. Her power would be a super kangaroo kick. Her name is Karen, and she also has the power to call for her guardian. She was on the savannah one day with her real mother when they saw these weird ships. Those weird ships turned out to be aliens. Karen went to go hide because she had no other idea what to do. Those aliens took Karen’s parents and left Karen there on the savannah. Julie Robinson was a scientist who was on the savannah when the aliens invaded. She found Karen and took her back to her laboratory to raise her there. Julie was secretly a superhero and that made Karen a “super-kangaroo.” They fought all crime together, and Karen even received a new super name. Her new name was “Karen the Unbeatable.”

Last Avatar – an excerpt Paolo Girandola Gr. 7 Once a upon time, a long time ago, there was an all-mighty avatar that served the animal nations.

There were three animal nations, the walrus, frog, and parrot nation. All were living in the sacred palace of peace and harmony. The avatar had decided to retire so he had to pick a new avatar. Tadaki was the new avatar.

Now, the frog nation was very chill, living in a sacred pond of peace along with parrots from the parrot’s nation. The walrus nation had to have their own habitat. The walrus nation became greedy over the years, coming up with ideas to attack. The avatar, the only one that can hold the power of all three nations always saw evil in the Walrus nation.

Then, the walrus nation attacked the parrot nation but there was one avatar in power of all three nation, but when we needed him the most he vanished.

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Leon Leyson – a Capstone excerpt John Trokan Gr. 5 Leon Leyson lived a life full of high and low points. He was born in Narewka on September 15, 1929 to Chanah and Moshe Leyson. His mother was a physical laborer, having to haul buckets of water to farmers working in the fields.

Throughout his life, Leyson showed multiple examples of courage from when he searched for his father to when he suffered through Gross-Rosen prison camp. Leyson was especially courageous throughout his time in Plazow, and struggled through the cruel grasps of its director, Amon Goth, who was a war criminal. When Leyson found out that his father was placed at Plazow he broke the rules to go see him every day. One of Leyson’s boldest moments was when he broke out of his barracks to see of his mother after Amon Goth crossed Leyson’s name off the list of the prisoners on Schindler’s list. Leyson confronted an officer so that he could say bye to his mother and by a miracle the officer let him go to Schindler’s factory. At Schindler’s, Leyson worked his hardest to maintain his position, even having to stand on a wooden box to operate machinery. Eventually, Leyson formed a relationship with Schindler, earning his protection against the Nazis. By his constant perseverance and unerring courage, Leyson managed to live through the war which for a young Jew was a miracle.

Little Plastic Bags Lila Miller Gr. 4 Dear Packaging Designer: I am a fourth-grade student at The Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati, Ohio. In science class we are studying how packaging materials can hurt the earth. When I buy your products, I always feel bad throwing away all the little plastic bags. I have noticed that you have all the cute accessories and dolls individually wrapped in plastic bags. I was thinking that you could put the dolls in a cute container that you can reuse and make different scenes in the background so that you are not just collecting dolls and accessories but can collect backgrounds, too! While I was on your website, I noticed that you were not doing anything to help this problem, so I recommend you try to make a change about how you package the product.

Louis Zamperini – a Capstone excerpt Caroline Gehring Gr. 5 Mr. Louis Zamperini lived a challenged life that made him incredibly wise. He was born January 26, 1917, in Olean, New York. He was born to an Italian family.

Mr. Zamperini showed courage throughout his life. He showed courage when he bandaged his crew when his plane was being shot down by the Japanese. That time the crew survived, and they were able to save the plane. Another way Zamperini showed courage was when another plane he was flying on went down. He was yelling “Brace!” and he tried to save everyone. Only three men including him survived. He was courageous when he was stranded on a raft with two other people for forty-seven days.

One person named Sergeant Francis McNamara passed away while on the raft for thirty-three days.

Mr. Zamperini and the pilot Mr. Russell Phillips were the only people left. They showed courage and perseverance when they survived many shark encounters and when they were being taken away to a POW camp. Mr. Zamperini showed courage when he was in the POW camps where he survived many rigorous beatings, challenges, sicknesses, starvation, tough labor, and threats. Mr. Zamperini was courageous throughout his life.

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Louise – a Sisters of Notre Dame excerpt Jefferson Campbell Gr. 6 Hi, my name is Sister Louise, and I’m the most famous Sister in the world. But let’s start from the beginning. One day Sister Julie called me to her office. Honestly, I thought I was going to get fired but it turns out I’m going to NYC. I’m so excited to get out of this boring place in Belgium. I get to travel across the ocean and see whales and dolphins. This will be an awesome birthday present. I love the ocean and all the creatures in it. I will definitely 100% make an enormous difference.

The six-week journey was horrible. No one let me do anything. I had to sit down to read. It was so boring. I didn’t even get to see the whales. I wanted them to hit me in the face with their blowhole water. I got insanely sick. I threw up 5 times. The only interesting thing I found was a typo in my book.

I’m not really that homesick. I am a little bit because the convent was better than this.

Malala – a book review Chloe Ragland Gr. 6 In the beginning of the book, Malala talks truthfully about her life, and how normal it is. Malala is a lot like a girl in school but her culture is different. Then Radio Mullah joined forces with the Taliban and killed many people. Also, they had bombed the town Malala lives in. Malala went undercover writing in her journal, so the world would know about the Taliban in Pakistan. She had a speech talking about the fact that girls should be able to go to school, then the Taliban tore up her school. Malala received many death threats daily. Malala sadly got shot on the bus. Malala went to a hospital in Birmingham, and her parents did not see her for 16 days. The doctors operated on Malala’s ear to try and “fix” her face. Thankfully she survived.

Martin Luther King, Jr. – an excerpt Sebastian Swan Gr. 5 Martin Luther King, Jr. was a visionary and a civil rights activist. He was born on January 15, 1929.

His mom and dad were Black. Martin Luther King Jr. was born during segregation when black people and white people were not allowed to attend the same schools and churches and they even had to use separate bathrooms and water fountains. His parents named him Michael King, but his father changed his name to Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was young. Martin Luther King Jr. had a lot of courage because many white people did not agree with what he believed and did mean things to he and his family, but he fought for what he believed was right. I emulate how Martin Luther King, Jr. when I choose to speak up, when I see someone is not being treated fairly. Martin did not like the racial injustices and he decided to do something about it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a visionary and a civil rights leader. He led peaceful protests and did not believe in violence. He was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi was an Indian Civil Rights activist who also believed in peace. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which did not believe in violence. The police were very violent towards Blacks during the peaceful protests, but Martin Luther King, Jr. told Blacks not to fight back. The bus boycott that Martin Luther King, Jr. led, ended the segregation laws and Blacks were able to sit in the front of the bus. His speeches inspired people all over the world and are still quoted today. Martin Luther King, Jr. made a lot of positive changes happen.

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Mel Kadel - The Wall Edward Neyra Gr. 4 Mel Kadel created, The Wall, in 2008. Her choice of medium for this modern artwork is incredibly creative. She used coffee to stain the paper. The staining creates depth and dimension in the image.

Over the coffee stains, Mel Kadel used pen and ink to draw her surrealistic images. Most of the artwork is dull and monochromatic. The organic shapes swirl and overlap each other, some contain jagged rocks. At the top of the artwork there is an opening. This vivid blue space is full of pinkish red flowers.

This area is the only bright spot in the artwork. Because of the use of color, your eyes go right to it. This is the focal point of The Wall.

Mel Kandel’s artwork is inspiring. It makes you stop to think about is happening. I think the three women are trying to escape their minds and bad thoughts. They want to break free from the things that are holding them back. They are climbing toward a place where they have equality and have the same rights as men. It is a place where they can be anything they want. I really like this painting and Mel Kadel’s message.

Midnight Ride Marguerite Jackson Gr. 4 A lot of events happened leading up to the Revolutionary War, but the Midnight Ride was one of the most important. The Midnight Ride occurred around eleven o’clock. It included Paul Revere, William Drews, John Handcock, Samuel Adams, and Joseph Warren. It happened in Massachusetts. The ride went through the towns of Lexington and Concord. The British wanted the weapons and gunpowder that belonged to the militia. The British government did not want the colonists to be able or prepared to fight if a battle were to break out. They also wanted to arrest John Handcock and Samuel Adams.

John Handcock was a merchant who was the president of the Continental Congress. He famously said, “We must be unanimous; there must be no pulling different ways; we must hang together.”

Paul Revere and William Drews both had a big part in the Midnight Ride. They were to ride to Lexington, Massachusetts to warn John Handcock and Samuel Adams that the British were coming to arrest them and then ride to Concord to protect the militias’ weapons. They also warned people along the way that the Regulars (British) were coming!

Millennium Force Beckham Carrasquillo Gr. 4 One summer day, my family and I went to Cedar Point. Cedar Point is an amusement park filled with roller coasters and arcades. It has rides for everyone. Sometimes, everyone wants to ride the same rides but not all the time. My brother, Nico, wanted to go on all the little kid rides. I wanted to go on fast rides like the Raptor. As a solution to this problem, my dad thought we should split up into teams.

I went on the roller coaster rides with my dad, and Nico went on the kid rides with my mom.

The first ride we went on was the Gemini. It was awesome, and I told my dad I loved it. We went on a couple more rides before we got to my dad’s favorite, Millennium Force, a giga coaster. The line was long, but we waited patiently. I was nervous and excited. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to ride it or not.

Finally, it was our turn, and we boarded the ride. I was pretty scared. I had never been on that big or fast I felt like I was going to die if I got on it. We started to slowly rise. At the top, out of nowhere the ride whipped us down. It felt like we were going 1000 mph. It was awesome! When we got off, I was dizzy, but I had survived. I was ready to go on Millennium Force again!

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Modern Artwork - The Wall Ava Boyer Gr. 4 The Wall was created in 2008 by Mel Kadel. The artist created this modern artwork using coffee wash, pen, and ink. The coffee wash gives the painting a sepia look. All the colors are dull and almost monochromatic until you get to the center of the painting. In the center of the painting, there is a pastel blue sky and tall orangey red flowers. The use of the complimentary colors pulls the viewers eyes to the opening. The flowers are tall and stylized. Surrounding the opening is a rock like mass containing other similar openings. These hold only jagged pebble covered fields. This gives the artwork a surrealistic feel.

I believe that Mel Kadel painted The Wall because she wanted to show that girls are strong as boys.

She depicts three women pushing, pulling, and lifting each other to get to the fairyland or the fantasy land. The women are working together to get out of the area where they have been trapped. The artwork tells the viewer about the hardships, challenges, and difficulties that woman face, but if they all work together, they can overcome them. I believe this is why Mel Kadel painted The Wall.

Mom Mia Warden Gr. 5 I learned so much from you and when I get the flu you are there.

You have always been there for me just like a bird and a tree.

Even if it is hard sometimes, you are always on my mind.

Even when I am uncaring that is all just untrue.

When you make food, it makes me smile and that means I will stay for a while.

Even when I am mean to you, you always find a way to get through. I love you.

Moose – an excerpt Molly Fitzpatrick Gr. 7 A curious moose was walking through the jungle with his friends, or at least that is what he wished he were doing. The moose did not have any friends to walk through the jungle with because all he ever did was spend his time wishing for what he did not have. At one point when he did have friends a long time ago, he wished he could be alone. He really wanted friends but more than friends, more than anything he could think of he wished he could be like those monkeys he always saw flying from branch to branch in the treetops. But he knew that that would never happen because he was just a moose, so all he had left to do was wish.

Moray Eel Logan Butler Gr. 4 The moray eel is an incredible animal. There are over 200 species of eels, and they are found all over the world, but they are most often in tropical or temperate water. Even though most species are found in saltwater, a few can be found in fresh. Moray eels are one of the most exciting creatures to find when scuba diving, and with their adaptations it is easy to see why.

The moray eel may look like a snake, but it is in the fish family. Their bodies look smooth, but they do have fins. The fins make the moray eel look like it has a mohawk. A slippery layer of mucus covers their bodies which protects them from the rocky reefs where they hunt and live. In a few species the mucus contains toxins. Eels also have very strong jaws and two sets of extremely sharp teeth. The moray eel has large eyes but bad vision. This doesn’t matter because they are nocturnal. Instead, they have large nostrils to help them smell or sense what is around. Moray eels can come in a rainbow of colors.

They can have spots, stripes, and other patterns. Some eels can even change colors to camouflage with the environment.

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More Breaks – a persuasive essay excerpt Carolyn Federle Gr. 7 Students go for hours of school, then to sports, then once they get home and are restless, they must do their homework which has piled up for the week. The health in teens has decreased rapidly throughout this Covid-19 pandemic. Students have been doing online learning where there have been technology issues and headaches. Children have also had to quarantine for many months where there is no socializing in person or any sleep. Many people stay up at night because they have so much on their mind with school and considering what’s going to be the latest news with Covid-19. Some may say that you already get enough breaks during school: winter break, fall break, and additional holidays.

However, that is only around four to five breaks out of 365 days in a year. We also go to school five days a week out of seven days. I feel that students need more breaks for their social needs, physical health, and mental health.

Kids need to have entertainment most times of their lives because that is what their brain teaches them (Doll). Having friends and family around them feels like you are safe and secure. When kids are by themselves for long periods of time not doing anything or seeing others with friends while you are alone, can cause depression. The older you get, the greater the likelihood of depression increases. In 2003, 5.4% of children 6-17 years old were diagnosed with depression. In 2007, 8% were diagnosed, and in 2011, 8.4% were diagnosed (Doll). In conclusion, the depression rate is increasing because of your physical and mental health.

My Birth – an excerpt Lexy Beyerbach Gr. 4 It all started when Mom went to the doctor’s office.

“Have a seat. Thank you for coming in,” said the doctor. Mom sat down and they started talking. I listened closely to see if there was anything interesting going on. “It’s November 5th already. If that baby does not come by tomorrow, we’ll get it out on November 8th.” I was not happy to hear this revelation. I hoped Mom would be shocked and protest with a loud, “NO!” Instead, she simply sighed, “Alright.” I could not believe my ears, so I started to devise a plan.

On the evening of November 7th, Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa were watching television, and I knew it was time to put my plan into action. I started to kick, a lot. My mother said, “I’m tired. I am going to rest for a bit.” With eyes still on the tv, Dad said, “Okay.” It was somewhere around midnight when dad checked on Mom, and she whispered, “I think the baby wants out now.” Luckily, dad was dressed and ready to go. He got Mom in the car and seemed pretty worried that I might arrive before they made it to the hospital. He was so afraid that he drove over the speed limit. They did not want me to be born on I-71! Once they arrived at the hospital, Dad drooped Mom off and went to find a parking spot. Mom went to the front desk to check in. “My name is Jennifer Beyerbach, and I am about to have a baby!” she panted.

My Drink Kiersten Diaz Gr. 5 If I was a drink, I would be a hot peppermint tea. Peppermint is like me because I can get very excited or angry at times, like peppermint is spicy. Tea is like me because of the calm feeling you get when you curl up with tea and a book, and I am calm most of the time and I love to read. The hot part of the tea is similar to me because, like hot tea gets warm, I can be shy at first but then get warmer towards others. In conclusion, if I was a drink, I would be hot peppermint tea.

My 9th birthday Eliana Hafner Gr. 3 I woke up, and I saw balloons hanging from the frame of my door. Bang! I hit one “hee, hee’’ I laughed. I sat on the couch and started opening my presents. One was an Alexa, I felt so excited, and felt like I was going to burst! “Yay, yay, yay,’’ I yelled. I will never forget that birthday.

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My Ranch Cannon Casey Gr. 4 Close your eyes and think of the best place in the world. I see wide open space, rolling hills, and the sun shining. I see my ranch. The ranch is beautiful and fun. When you are there, you are never bored.

There are so many awesome things to do at the ranch. My favorite things to do are ride the four-wheelers and horses, visit with the animals, and play games with my family.

The ranch is big, so you need to have ways to get around. We usually ride horses or ATVs. The horses are getting old. Most of the time we ride the ATVs or four-wheelers. My brother and I like to drive them up the hills searching for the mules.

On the ranch, there are longhorns, horses, and mules. They all have names like, Merle, Alamo, and Shooter. It’s fun to help take care of them all. There are also wild animals. Most of them are neat to have around except for the hogs. They destroy the land and cause a lot of damage.

The best thing about the ranch is the games that we play. One of my favorites was, The Contest. In the contest, my brother and I challenged each other to a BB gun shooting contest. We set up a Coke can, and the first round was for 10 dollars I got the first shot. My BB gun had more power than my brothers, but I missed. My brother hit it on the first try. We were playing best 3 out of 5. I hit the target on my next turn. We were tied one to one. It was so much fun that we kept shooting, and I don’t know who won. The ranch is an awesome place that I love to visit. There is always something to do, and I get to spend time with family and friends. When I think about the best place on Earth, I think of the ranch.

Mythical Creatures Austin Miller Gr. 5 You may have seen or heard of something big and hairy, or a giant tentacle washed up on the sandy beach. Maybe, you caught a glimpse of a long neck sticking out of the water. The yeti is a creature that is said to live in the Himalayan Mountains. There have been many reported sightings of the yeti, but there is no evidence that it exists. The yeti is described as extremally large and covered in white and brown fur. It is similar to the descriptions of bigfoot. It walks upright and is said to be ape-like. That is one talented ape. The kraken is a creature that terrorizes sailors off the coast of Norway and Greenland. It can grow up to 50 feet long. This animal was thought to live in the imaginations of sailors, but giant tentacles started being discovered. Perhaps the sailors were right. Nessie, The Loch Ness Monster, lives in a lake in Scotland. She was brought to the world’s attention in 1933. She has a long neck and looks somewhat like a dinosaur. There have been many sightings of Nessie over the years, and all have been proven false. It seems that Loch Ness is safe, but chilly, for swimming. After reading this, you might ask, “Are these creatures real?” I do not know, but there have been centuries of claims about these and other mythical creatures.

Nature – a haiku Lily Finkleman Gr. 3 In the safari, All animals roam around, Until the sunset.

In the oak tree branches, There is a little birdie, Making a small nest.

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Namur – A Sisters of Notre Dame excerpt Jadon Barnes Gr. 6 On my 20th birthday, I was invited to New York by one of the Sisters of Notre Dame to help at the convent. They lived in Namur, Belgium at a convent. The whole day, I’ve been helping the sisters with their daily tasks at the convent. The convent looks like a huge church and is right next to our town. I help the sisters around town by gathering food and water for the day.

The six-week journey was long and tiring. Lucky for me, I did not get sick during this trip. I had noticed on the trip that there was a grounded ship on the beachfront. I had no idea how it had crashed there or what had happened to it and everyone in it. Over the past two days, I began to get homesick, but the trip ended sooner than I had thought.

Near Miss Jack Geers Gr. 4 When I was about 6, I had a battery-operated car. It was black and red and looked like a regular car but without a hood. I liked to drive it around the circle on my street. I liked to drive it every chance I got.

One day, when I was driving the car, I went down the sidewalk to my friend Sam’s house. Friends of her family were visiting. Suddenly, I heard SHRIEK! Confused, I looked and there was a car beside me.

My mom was screaming, “STOP!” And running toward me in shock! I felt like I was going to cry. The car almost hit me, but luckily it just missed me. The woman, Sam’s friend, got out of the car and could not stop apologizing. Soon after, my mom and I went inside. That night we prayed that I would never have such a close call again!

New Orleans Owen Lee Gr. 3 You should go to New Orleans because you can learn about history there. You can listen to jazz. Jazz is a part of the Blues, it also fun to listen to. You can hike along the Gulf Coast. You can see boats and fish. Therefore, I think you should go to New Orleans.

Night and Day Abby Kroner Gr. 5 You are always there for me night and day You are a soccer mom that is why you are the bomb.

You have always been the queen,but that stops when I am a teen.

I will always love you even when I am blue.

You’ve always been there for me, but someday you are going to have set me free.

I love you so much mom.You are the BOMB! I love you to the moon and back No Uniform Fridays – a persuasive essay excerpt Natalie Neyra Gr. 6 My topic is out of uniform on Fridays. Out of uniform would make students exited. They would want to show off their new clothes or outfits. Every day I want to wake up exited to do something or use something. I would love to wake up every Friday and wear something different than everybody else.

I believe that students should be out of uniform on Friday because uniforms take away freedom and individualism. Uniforms limit how much students express themselves. Teachers always tell students to express themselves. It is hard to do that when you all look the same. Uniforms also take away freedom.

They are a waste of money to, every year or 2 parents buy their kids expensive uniforms that students will ruin or get dirty.

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Number One Samuel Sprengard Gr. 5 Mother’s Day is in the month of May, in this month there will be no gray.

You make everything fun, you are my number one.

You make great food, it makes me happy when I am in a mood.

She is always in the car, she is my Rockstar.

You have always been there for me, even when we disagree.

I have learned so much from you and I just want to say thank you.

Office Assistant Christian Basler Gr. 5 I am contacting you to apply for the office assistant job. I am qualified for this job, because I write Christmas letters all the time. In my life, I have written a Christmas letter every year. I read in the job description that is an important aspect of the job. Also, I have good judgement and good morals. That will allow me to be a fair judge when deciding who is naughty, and who is nice. Every year my parents keep my presents at my house. I know that they are here, but I choose not to look around because I know that is not right. Another reason is that I am a good writer. Even outside of school, I do extra work to make sure that I am writing as best as possible. I do an hour of extra writing help every week.

I attend to the Summit Country Day School, and I feel my strengths are in math and writing. I think this, because I received an A+ in math and writing. I also participate in extracurricular activities. I am a member of the school basketball team. Participating in this activity has helped me learn how to work as a team with others. Working as a team is important for this job, because many people are working to make Christmas happen. Also, at school, I have received blue and silver honors. This means that I have had good grades in all my classes. These honors show that I have a good work ethic, which I will also have at work. I feel I am the best person for this job because I am a hard worker and dependable.

Olympics Connor Schaaf Gr. 7 The hosting country can undergo serious economic tension while attempting to host the Olympics.

The overall cost to host is massive, averaging over 10 billion dollars (Baade and Matheson), so it is a lot of money. This includes the extra infrastructure that must be built to host all the athletes and people who came to spectate. The amount of people can cause issues with diseases, because when there are so many people put in such a small area, it can cause a large outbreak like it did in the 2016 Olympics in Brazil. Hosting the Olympics already has some downsides, but when poorly managed, it can become much worse.

Hosting the Olympics can endanger a weak economy or one that is poorly handled. While this is true, IOC or International Olympic Committee is making changes that will benefit the hosting country more. However, even without these changes, hosting the Olympics can improve an economy. It can increase an economy through the TV, ticket and traveling revenue. The hosting country can also gain support and awareness through the attention the Olympics cause. The success can lead to massive economic growth if the country has the room and the money to host this enormous global competition of the best athletes on the planet. This is a competition of elite athletes who have trained their entire lives and are gathered in one place, so being the country holding this awe-inspiring global event is an amazing experience.

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Online Learning Kayden Smith Gr. 4 Online learning is troublesome because you do not get to interact with people. You do not get to transition to classes and most of all you must look at a screen for seven hours. I have experienced online learning before. It was ridiculously hard to keep my papers in place and I did not get to talk that much when I was online.

One reason that I do not like online learning is because I do not get to interact with people. You do not get to play recess or see any friends and that makes me sad because I like to play soccer on the school playground. Another reason that I do not like online learning is you do not get to transition between classes. I like to transition because you get to talk when you wait in the hallway and you get to move around before your next class. I always talk to the boys in my class about soccer, lunch, and recess. I was double sad to miss out on that! The next reason online learning is troublesome is you must look at a screen for seven hours. When you are done with school you like to play video games but when you are doing online learning for seven hours you do not want to look at a screen at all. The final reason is your eyes hurt so bad and the teacher usually forgets to turn on Teams! That’s is why online learning is troublesome. You do not get to interact with people, you do not get to transition to classes and most of all you must look at a screen for seven hours. One reason online learning is good, and only one reason! It is that you get to sleep in, but it is not worth it!

Open Circle – a persuasive essay excerpt Madelyn Smith Gr. 6 My idea is to have an open circle discussion in schools. Open circle is a time for students to get to know each other. It is also a time to practice using social skills. Social skills are very important. People use them every day, making it ever more important to practice them. A group circle discussion will not only benefit students by encouraging them to be more outward with their peers but will also make them feel better about themselves as they share what’s been troubling them.

Students should feel better about themselves and others. Social events such as an open circle help improve that quality. It helps develop children’s skills for recognizing and managing emotions, empathy, positive relationships, and problem solving. Students can also achieve more when they feel better about themselves. Students that can apply all these social skills will be better off in life. This is why it so critical to teach them.

In conclusion, students should participate in open circles at school. Open circles improve student’s social skills and reduces problem behaviors. Open circle not only benefits students it also benefits the teachers by strengthening their social and emotional skills, improve their facilitation and classroom management skills, and learn to teach the open circle curriculum. Lastly, open circles have a huge benefit to our school and schools everywhere. Hopefully after reading this schools will recognize the importance of open circles in the classroom.

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Optimal Racing Line Forrest Cloran Gr. 5 My experiment set out to determine the optimal racing line around a four-corner track out of four different racing lines or shapes. My hypothesis was that the circle racing line would be the fastest because the circle would allow you to keep even throttle and eliminate the need to brake at corners, which could slow you down. First, I selected four track shapes to test, which were oval, ellipse, square, and circle. Then I put together a list of my materials (including a go-kart, tank of gas, a driver, and a timer), gathered them, and went out to the track to do the experiment. When we got to the track, we staked out the main corners of the four-corner track. Each of the test shapes were set around the four corners.

For each shape, the driver did 5 laps at her fastest pace. I used a timer to time each lap and recorded those lap times on paper. After we completed five laps for every track shape, we would pick up all the cones and map out the new shape of the track. We added gas in between shapes to control the weight of the go-kart. After the experiment, I brought the data back and entered it into an Excel spreadsheet to find the average lap time for each track shape. The results did not support my hypothesis because they show the fastest average lap time is the oval and not the circle.

Orange Fanta Milan Matarazzo Gr. 5 If I was a drink, I would be orange Fanta. I think I am like this drink because I am bright and cheerful like the color of the soda, Also I can be loud and noisy like how strong and tangy the flavor is. Fanta can sit out for a bit and lose its bright bittersweet flavor. If I overrun myself and I am very tired, all my happy fizzy energy bubbles will go away. In conclusion, I think that Fanta is the best drink to describe me.

Painting - Stand! Occupy! Protest! In 2012 Mabel Hartmann Gr. 4 I think that the painting Stand! Occupy! Protest! In 2012 is a strong and inspiring piece of art. Aminah Robinson, the artist, used watercolor to create the painting. The use of primary colors, red, yellow, blue and the addition of bright green attract your eyes to the painting. The bright green next to the yellow and blue makes your eyes want to see more. The center figure stands tall wearing a bright green hat that creates the focal point for this painting. Robinson created depth in her painting by including a glimpse of people also holding signs behind the unified row in the foreground. These figures are painted in shades of brown, and they are smaller than the brightly clothed people. The watercolors create the feeling of movement in the painting.

Aminah Robinson painted Stand! Occupy! Protest! In 2012 to illustrate how much she wanted justice. She wanted justice for African Americans. She believed in rights for everyone, but especially for African Americans because they were treated unfairly. Robinson sought to change that and bring awareness to the African American struggle. Her painting shows determination and hope on the faces in the crowd. I believe that Aminah Robinson felt the same determination and hope. Her painting tells a story of unity and strength in the African American community. She believed that in voicing your feelings and beliefs that you could create change.

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Participation Trophies – a persuasive essay excerpt Wyatt Gockerman Gr. 6 I received participation trophies happily until I realized everyone got them and they weren’t anything special. Then when I won actual trophies, they didn’t feel as special, because half of them looked the same as participation trophies. It made me feel disappointed and hurt my drive to win. This can happen to other children in many ways. In conclusion, participation trophies are a bad idea, and are harmful to children’s development.

In fact, giving participation trophies are overprotective and harming. Participation trophies tell children they can get a reward for nothing and can keep them away from trying to do their best. This can come back later in life when they have a job. They won’t try their best at young age, and they won’t try their best at their job. Do you really want to put your children on the streets by overprotecting them with participation trophies? In conclusion, participation trophies aren’t necessary, and they are overprotective.

Peloponnesian War – an excerpt Sammy Jacobs-Ramey Gr. 5 Athens and Sparta have gotten into a war that would change their lives forever. Sparta was growing strong with power and influence on the Athenian Empire. This made the Spartan empire invade Attica various times. After 10 years of fighting, the Spartan king Archidamus started the new Greek slogan “free the Greeks.” During the final phase of the gory war, Athens made an army to attack the spartan Syracuse. This assault was a massive failure for the Athenian empire. After years of the war Sparta gave a peace treaty to Athens. With some consideration, the Athenians accepted the peace treaty. The treaty only lasted six years.

People Play Basketball Tyrone Cox Gr. 3 Basketball is a sport a lot of people play. You may not play like Lebron James on you first day of playing basketball. There are two teams when you play basketball, and it is a lot of fun! Kids can’t slam dunk because their bodies are not strong enough. A teenager might be able to slam dunk because they are taller and stronger. The most effective pass is the bounce pass. It will help you win the game and makes playing basketball a little bit easier. You can run a diamond which will help you score points.

Running a diamond is strategy that helps you pass the ball to your teammates while standing in a diamond pattern with last person being closest to the hoop and they do a lay-up. You can do a jump shothalf the time you will make it and sometimes you don’t. You can only take two steps to shoot.

Perfect Snow Day Lucy Viveros Valdepeña Gr. 4 My perfect snow day would start like this: I wake up and run downstairs for breakfast. My mom smiles at me and says, “There’s no school today. It’s a Snow Day!” My face cracks in a huge grin as I shove food in my mouth. I quickly throw on my winter clothes and run outside. My sister and I build a snowman, throw snowballs, and have a lot of fun playing in the wintery white.

We decide to thaw out, and head inside. Mom is making us hot chocolate, and we sip on the delicious beverage while watching a movie. After the movie, we decide to play a board game. The day is almost over. Would we have a snow day tomorrow? If we do, would we have a snowball fight? Maybe we could bake all day! Or, we could go skiing! Perhaps, we will just stay in our warm, cozy beds and read all day. There are so many ways to have a Perfect Snow Day.

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Pet Fish Elise Goebel Gr. 3 Did you get a new pet fish? Do you need some tips? Keep reading for more information.

Fish need lots of attention. They are living animals just like humans. You need a fish that you like and want to take care of. Make sure you take good care of it. Keep reading so that you can care well for your fish.

You must make sure you have the right size tank for your fish, because if you do not, it might die. It also must have some rocks and seaweed plants. This will make the fish feel like it is in its natural habitat. You do not want to have too many fish in the tank. You only want to have up to twelve fish, possibly less, depending on the size of the tank. Also, make sure you put the tank in a sunny spot, so your fish does not freeze in the winter.

It is important to keep the tank clean. When you clean your fish’s tank there is probably some fish poop at the bottom, and foggy water because of fish pee. To clean the tank, put the fish in a space where they can swim around temporarily. Dump the tank’s water into your sink, but make sure you take the rocks and plants out before you dump it. Squirt a little soap in the tank and scrub it until the poop is gone. Rinse, dry, and fill back up. Then, the fish are ready to go back in.

Piecing Me Together – a book review excerpt Ama Karikari Gr. 6 This book was based on the life of a young lady by the name Jade Butler who goes to a private school. She gets enrolled in the program called Woman to Woman. This program is for black girls and helps them get into a good college and compete for a scholarship. Her mentor from the program is Maxine who isn’t much older than Jade and graduated from the same high school. Even though they graduated from the same high school they are very different. While taking the bus to school, Jade meets a girl from her school named Sam. When she is at school, she volunteers and helps tutor kids in Spanish. She is helping because she wants a scholarship for a service trip to Spain. Once a week she goes to her Woman to Woman program, once every 2 weeks they go to a special place and they never go to her part of town. Her mentor Maxine always seems to not be paying attention and always leaving for a long amount of time while she is supposed to be helping Jade. A few weeks later Jade is curious about Maxine, so she decides to try and get to know more about her. Maxine tells her that she is having a little trouble with her latest break up and from now on she will be more focused. Also, Jade told Maxine about her issue with the events and they aren’t happening on her part of town. Maxine makes a deal with Jade, that she will be more focused if Jade promises to speak up and suggest to the leaders of Woman to Woman to have more variety in the location the events are taking place.

Plant Nutrients – a science fair abstract Kyan Gatewood Gr. 5 Plants require a large amount of nutrients. The three main nutrients are nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium. After they are cut, they go through many changes. My question was “What additive best preserves a cut flower in a vase for the longest amount of time?” My hypothesis was that adding coffee to the flower will keep it alive the longest because it has more potassium than the other additives I would test. Materials I used included vases, water, roses, coffee, 7Up, aspirin, and vinegar. An overview of the procedure was 1) Put water in vases 2) Put roses in vases 3) Put additives in vases 4) Observe and record the changes in the flowers every day. The results appeared to show that aspirin preserved the flowers the longest. White vinegar was the worst additive; the flowers did better with no additive than with vinegar. The data did not support my hypothesis because the coffee did not do as well as the aspirin. To make my experiment better, I would test different quantities of each additive to find each one’s best recipe for preserving the flower. I could have also researched about how different types of flowers need different additives and how someone could find the best additive for the specific flower that they like. My experiment is important because people like florists can get longer lasting flowers that leads to getting more money. Ordinary people also benefit from this because they can make their house look better for longer.

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Playing Soccer – an excerpt Elliot Gockerman Gr. 3 Soccer is a fun sport played in many countries around the world. Here are a couple tips. You can find a space to play soccer in lots of places. Many parks have fields that you can use. Your school may also have a team. You might even be able to set one up in your own yard. You can always look online to find a place or ask your friends.

Throw ins are the most common way to get the ball in play. To do a throw in, you hold the ball with two hands above your head. Then you throw it in. When you throw it, you do not want to lift up your feet. You can drag one foot but remember to keep both feet on the ground or the ball will go to the other team. That is how you throw the ball in.

Popular Sport: Basketball – an excerpt Graham Moore Gr. 3 Basketball is a popular sport. It can be played in Europe or America. When you can’t make the pro’s, you usually got to Europe and play. The positions are point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. There are five guys playing at a time on each team. The point guard brings the ball up the court. The shooting guard can shoot well. The small forward is usually good on defense. The power forward is good at scoring in the paint. The center is good at rebounding. Rebounding is when you jump and grab the ball.

Traveling is called a turnover. Traveling is when you take three steps holding on to the ball. Double dribbling is when you dribble and then you pick up the ball and then you dribble.

Positions – Football Nolan O’Brien Gr. 3 Football is a very fun sport to play, but sometimes it’s hard. There is a lot to learn about the sport.

The first thing I want to talk about is positions. Positions are places that people use to get organized on the football field. There are around 50 positions, but I will tell you about 3. The first position is a Quarterback (QB). The QB is the guy on the field that throws the football to the Wide Receiver (WR).

The WR is the guy that catches the football from the QB. The Cornerback (CB) is the guy on the football field that guards the WR. There are about 14 parts (pieces) of the field but I am only going to tell you 3. The end zone is where the person scores and gets 6 points. A field goal is the yellow bar on the field that you kick the football into after you score a touchdown; it only gives you one point. Hashmarks are the little marks on the field. There is a big hashmark, three smaller hashmarks, and then a big one again. The hashmarks mark the yards; that’s how you know where you get tackled on the field.

Preparing for a Puppy!

Annabelle Huttenbauer Gr. 3 What do you need to do to prepare for a puppy? If you are asking yourself that question, then you NEED to read this. I am going to teach you when they need to go to the bathroom, when they need to go in a crate, what they need, and what type of dog to get.

The first thing to consider is when to take it out to the bathroom, Usually when it wakes up, and after breakfast it will need a bathroom break. Then, you need to take it out every hour or so until dinner.

Then take it out twice more after dinner and before bedtime.

Now the second thing to consider is when the puppy needs to go in the crate. Usually after breakfast (again), when the puppy is behaving badly, and at bedtime. Now, the reason for that is because after breakfast the dog needs time to digest its food. The reason the puppy needs to go in the crate if the puppy is being bad, is to punish it for being bad.

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Protecting Animals and the Environment Priya Mullapudi Gr. 3 I think you should protect animals and the environment because some animals are endangered.

People are cutting down a lot of trees and that causes animals to lose their homes and die. For example, animals live in the trees, the trees would ‘’disappear,’’ and the animals don’t have a place to live. You should also help by being careful of what you put in the trash. Don’t use a lot of plastic, use reusable things. Plastic and trash go in landfills, and trash can also wash away into the ocean. It hurts the animals in the ocean and animals can eat trash and die.

Pumped Up – a science abstract Gael Huguet Gr. 5 My question was “Does how pumped up the ball is affected how far it bounces back when you kick it against the wall. My hypothesis was that it will a little bit because if you kick it hard it will lose ball pressure because it deflates every time you kick it. How it worked was that I pumped up the ball to different pressures then kicked the ball to the fence and I measured how far it went back towards me This experiment is important because you get to do exercise and not just sit there and just wait until something happens. In my experiment you can kick the ball and move around.

Pumpkin Story Nick Rassi Gr. 3 Owen, the pumpkin, was in the pumpkin Patch. He was talking with his friends. Owen’s friend, Jack yelled “you want to play,’’ “no, I’m good,’’ said Owen. Owen’s other friend Max replied, “Are you okay?” That night it was foggy, Owen could not see anything. He started to fall asleep, but then a vine broke loose. Owen started rolling, he bumped into Max and then Jack. My friend rolled over and then everyone else followed. The fog cleared up. Just then the farmer came outside to see the patch. He put every pumpkin back at their spot. The pumpkins then realized it was fall. People came and picked out their pumpkins.

Ranch Louis Uy Gr. 4 I love my ranch because there is a lot of stuff to do. One thing you can do is go hunting. Hunting is fun especially when you hunt for hog or deer. You can also shoot bb guns at targets. I love to ride the four wheelers and mule (buggie). At my ranch there are many different animals like hogs, deer, alligators, turkeys, rattle snakes, possums, and the list goes on. Alligators prey on hogs because they are hungry. Also, hogs are often near water, especially when they are shot. Hogs are overpopulated, but the reason why we shoot them is because they tear up and damage the ground with their cutters, also called tusks. Sometimes, we also shoot rattlesnakes because they are poisonous, dangerous, and we fear that they will bite the cows or us.

The ranch is located in Punta Gorda, Florida. It is 288 acres and is around some other ranches. We have fun driving around the ranch on the four-wheelers or the mule. Occasionally, we have to drive out to feed the cows. They are surprisingly fast for their size. Going to the ranch is one of my favorite things to do. It is always fun, and you are never bored at the ranch. There is always something to do or see when I visit.

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RBG – a Capstone excerpt Finley Chavez Gr. 5 Ruth Bader Ginsburg (RBG) once said, “Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” RBG lived a long life fighting for equal rights for women. She was an important and courageous person.

RBG was a very courageous person and showed this by doing many hard things. She fought for equal rights and she was the second lady on the Supreme Court ever. She started her journey young and grew smarter and smarter. She graduated law school and then went to the Supreme Court. RBG was so happy and was so courageous to only be the second lady on the court. She had some difficulties, but never quit. Martin died but that did not stop her. RBG and her daughter, Jane, were the first ever mother- daughter professors at the same school. She later became one of the most famous ladies on the Supreme Court. In conclusion, RBG is a very courageous person.

I could be courageous like RBG by standing up for what is right and never quitting. I could stand up for rights by trying to always stop what is wrong and doing the thing I think is right, not what other people think. I could also be like her by never quitting on my dreams when I go through challenging times. This is like when RBG never quit on her dreams. In conclusion, this is how I could be more like RBG. Reading Gecko Katie Buckius Gr. 7 I had a gecko who read to me, stories about monsters, evil at the start, Who in the end always had a change of heart.

I had a gecko who read me tales, of friendship, adventure, and wonderous splendor.

I had a gecko who read me to sleep, as the darkness of the night began to creep, When I was sad or when I would weep, I always felt better, When my gecko would read me to sleep.

I had a gecko who read me books, with stories that would always get me hooked, And each night I’d choose a new storybook, like Where the Wild Things Are and Winnie the Pooh.

You may have tons of wealth that you hold; tons of money and piles of gold, But richer than I you will never be, I had a gecko who read to me.

Which you got to admit is kind of impressive.

Red – an excerpt Jillian Chavez Gr. 7 At 12:00 a.m. February 12, 2031, the sky went black, the oceans went black, everything that once was blue went black. Blue was missing for a week now. No one knows where he is, what he was doing, and if he is alive. The colors of the rainbow, primary, secondary, and all, lost hope, all except Yellow.

Yellow, Red, and Blue were best friends. They were the originals, the primary colors, and no one could take that away from them. As time went on more colors came. Blue stayed popular while Red and Yellow plummeted the rankings of the colors. Yellow was fine with it; she was the happiest of the colors, always making everyone laugh. Red become envious of Blue’s popularity, but they still hung out, a lot.

It seemed Blue’s death affected everyone but Red, which is very peculiar considering they were best friends. It has been two weeks since Blue was missing and no one was looking apart from Yellow, but even she was losing hope. Yellow was going to Purple’s house, for he always knew how to make Yellow feel better, they were complimentary colors after all. Before Purple, she was going to Red’s section of the rainbow to talk to him one last time to see if he knew anything about Blue being missing. Yellow was suspicious of Red before the incident. She usually just pushed her suspicion out of her mind, for she really did like to see the best in people, but this had gotten too far. Yellow knew that the hour before Blue went missing Red was with him, alone. As Yellow was walking, just about to knock on Red’s door, she saw a flicker of Blue.

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Reds Game Natalie Campbell Gr. 4 BANG! Crunch! The sweet sound of bats hitting baseballs, and the not so sweet sound of people walking on cracked peanut shells. Ugh! When I first got to the Reds game I sat in my seat, and my dad asked me what I wanted to order off the menu. I said to him, “You know I don’t need a menu because I want what I always get, a cheeseburger.” Just then, I looked over at Jefferson, and he was staring at an Xbox. I knew he wanted to play on it. Next thing I know, Jefferson is over by dad asking if he can play on it. Dad said he could, but he had no one to play with. Jackson and dad were watching the baseball game. I felt bad for him, so I asked dad if I could play on it too. He said YES! I was so happy that he had someone to play with now. When I got there, he asked me what I wanted to play, and I thought, “Humm...how about Disney Infinity?” Suddenly, a worker came over and jokingly said, “You guys better not be playing on my Xbox!” By the time we finished eating, the game was over. We wanted to go back and play on the Xbox again, but dad said, “It’s getting kind of late, and we need to get home soon.

I’m sorry but you can’t play on the Xbox again.” At the end of the game, we got ice cream. It was a great way to end the night. We walked slowly and quietly to the car.

Relative Humidity Beckett Brinkman Gr. 5 Relative humidity is the ratio of the amount of water vapor, or absolute humidity, in the air, to the highest possible absolute humidity, at the given temperature. A home run in baseball is if a baseball player hits a pitched ball over the fence in a baseball game. My research question was: Does the relative humidity affect the number of home runs hit in a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium? My hypothesis was that higher relative humidity would lead to fewer total home runs hit in an MLB baseball stadium. For this experiment, I needed a working computer, an internet connection, and Microsoft Excel. I selected 6 outdoor MLB stadiums with similar dimensions, and I selected 10 consecutive regular season home games at each stadium starting from August 30, 2020. I looked up and recorded the relative humidity on the date and time closest to the start time of each game. I also recorded the home runs by the home team and away team as well as the total number of home runs in the game. Then I calculated the correlation coefficient between the total number of home runs and relative humidity to be -0.06, meaning that there was no relationship between relative humidity and total home runs. My results did not support my hypothesis; my experiment showed that relative humidity does not affect the number of home runs in an MLB baseball team. However, my hypothesis might have been supported if I included more games. My data provides useful information for coaches and players to make game plans and for fans to decide which games to go to.

Reptiles – a persuasive essay excerpt Piers Rackley Gr. 6 I think It would be a good idea to have a pet in the house. This would be a perfect household addition especially, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Most reptiles are not hard to take care of. On the other hand, dogs are much harder to take care of compared to reptiles. For example, a snake can stay in its environment and is quite happy there. Most snakes don’t bite its owners.

Return of the Bunnies – an excerpt Shriyan Masineni Gr. 6 Black Bunny and White Bunny return! Black Bunny and White Bunny went to all their friends. Bear and Raccoon welcomed them with open paws. On the other hand, Parakeet and Badger told them to get lost. The Bunnies asked them why they were so angry. They said that the government said that it was illegal for Black Bunny and White Bunny to be married.

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Ride – a chapter from The Revolutionary War Evie Curt Gr. 4 Dr. Josef Warren called on Paul Revere in the middle of the night to carry a very important message to Samuel Adams and John Hancock. There were two riders sent out to deliver the massage, William Dawes and Paul Revere, in case one got captured or caught. There were a lot of British patrols on the road. Paul Revere almost got caught serval times by British patrols. Revere rode to Charles River where he saw that there were British warships along the river, he believed this meant that the British troops were coming by sea. He got on a boat, carefully and quietly rowed across the river, and he made it to Charlestown without the British warships knowing. He rode to the tallest building in town, the Old North Church, and hung two lanterns in the window for all the colonists to see. He then continued to ride through town, quietly telling each house that the British were coming.

Revere was warned that there were several British patrols along his route. After almost getting caught, Revere changed his route and went through Milford. When he got to the house where Samul Adams and John Hancock were staying, he knocked and let him inside. He delivered his massage. The British are coming to take the hidden ammunition, guns, canons, and gun powder and to arrest the two men.

Road Trip Gone Wrong Josie Lyons Gr. 4 Two years ago, I went on a road trip. It was a lot of fun! But I am going to tell you about the last part of the trip. While we were in Maine, a boy got the flu, and he gave it to me. But I did not know! We left in Maine and headed home to Ohio. I was in the car and it was afternoon. I was so cold, and I did not feel so good and so I tried to take a nap. When I woke up, I only felt worse and then...I screamed, “GULP, GULP, DADDY PULL DOWN THE WINDOW! I AM GOING TO THROW UP! DADDY, ROLL DOWN THE WINDOW!” My dad rolled down the window and I threw up. My sister said, “Your throw up hit the other cars windshield! I felt bad for those people but in the end, I felt better although still a little sick. The next day I felt so much better. I wanted to get up to play but Daddy said, “No, Sweety, you have to rest.” I was relieved that I was out of THAT CAR! Robbery on Fifth Street – an excerpt Nabil Sinno The next day we went out to the grocery where we shop, and we saw a man at first, I thought nothing of it but then I realized it was the same man the woman described! My dad and I knew immediately what we had to do because there were people in the parking lot who might be robbed. We started calling him to come see us, he started running. While my dad was chasing him, my dad fell he told me to go get him. Finally, my time to shine I chased after him and tackled him and waited until dad came and then we called the police.

Roberts Times Jack Roberts Gr. 5 After 17 years, the cicadas come out of the ground to help the trees and to aerate the soil. Once they die, their bodies serve as an important part of nitrogen to help the trees grow. When the cicadas come out of the ground, they are eaten by just about everything that eats bugs. Even though a lot of cicadas are eaten, there a still a lot left to mate and lay more eggs underground for the next round of cicadas in 17 years.

Cicadas feed on liquids instead of solids. Larvae suck juices from plant roots, while adult larvae suck fluids from woody shrubs and trees. People that have sampled cicadas often say they taste like canned asparagus. Cicadas have terrible eyesight causing them to run into people when flying all the time.

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Rosa Parks – a Capstone excerpt Maren Lafley Gr. 5 Rosa Parks was a key figure in the civil rights movement of the 1950s. Rosa grew up in the segregated south and her courage for not giving up her seat on the bus led to the Montgomery bus boycott. I admire her bravery for doing this. Rosa’s strength led to major changes and is a great example of courage.

Rosa’s experience growing up in the south shaped her as a person. Rosa Louise McCauley was born on February 14,1913. As a child, Rosa lived with her grandparents and went to the Tuskegee Institute.

Rosa experienced a lot of racism in her town and has memories of her grandfather sleeping with a gun in case of any KKK attacks. Rosa was married in December of 1932 to Raymond Parks. Rosa’s childhood helped her become the person she was.

We can learn from Rosa Parks experience in the civil rights movement. Rosa was born and grew up in the south. Her courage changed the world in a positive way. Rosa’s saying “no” led to integrated buses in Montgomery. Rosa wanted a better life for people of color, and she made it happen.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg – an excerpt Gabby Chavez Gr. 3 Ruth Bader Ginsburg was an awesome woman. Here are some unknown things about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Before Ruth’s mother died, they would talk a lot with each other. One day Ruth brought up the comment about what she wanted to be when she was older. Ruth wanted to be a lawyer, and her mom also thought she could be a doctor, an archeologist, or a veterinarian. Overall, her mom just wanted Ruth to be sure to follow her dreams, and that made Ruth feel confident. Ruth knew she would become very successful. Ruth had a dream, and she knew that she would follow it!

Santa – an excerpt Zachary West Gr. 6 Hi, I’m Santa or well the new Santa. My dad was Santa so every boy in the Kringle family has to pass down the famous Kringle hat. My helpers are Braxton, John, Alex, and Dallas. Santa we have a problem! What is it Braxton? There is this thing called COVID and it might interfere with our normal plans.

Braxton is my most dependent elf and the most reliable. Humans used to be dominant but now Covid is. The latest toys being built are the PS5 and the Xbox One X but were running out of materials for those so put them on your Christmas list quick, next we have the Nintendo Switch. A lot of you guys like animal crossing apparently, and a popular toy is Lego. Now to the Naughty and Nice list specialist Alex. From our calculation 40% of children have been naughty and 60% of children have been nice.

Now here is the best gift wrapper in all of the north pole. Hi, while John is wrapping all the gift for the children, I’ll describe the North Pole. It’s made of sugary gingerbread, and the walls are made of colorful candy canes.

Sashy Emmett Hood Gr. 6 It was a dark and stormy night, on January 16, 2020, when a beautiful puppy was born on the planet Lice. All the lice wanted to attack her, so her parents sent her into space to save her. There, she was bitten by a radioactive bird called Spoonbill... and formed the ability to fly and become invisible. On this day, a legend was formed...SASHY! After days in space, she enters earth’s atmosphere, and lands in the backyard of a family with a mature and handsome son. She didn’t know how to act at first, so she started eating everything she saw. But then, a villain by the name of Dandy Dexy started eating her food, so she blasted him. It took minutes on end for Dexter to recover in a hospital. After all of it was over, Dexter became Sashy’s sidekick, and they fought crimes together. Everyone loved them, and they lived on for years to come.

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Save the Environment Letter Isaac Lam Gr. 4 Dear Packaging Designer: I am a 4th grader at The Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati. In science we are learning about protecting the environment and overpackaged products. Your product has 0% recyclable packaging and I want to fix that. In order to, make that happen I would first have a recyclable container that holds Oreos. Next, I would use bioplastic surrounding the container. Finally, put a sealed box around the recyclable object. I love the product with the cream filling and the cookie. I have eaten the cookies many times! I saw on your website that by 2025 you want to make a recyclable package, and I am really looking forward to that so keep working hard.

Seeing the Stars in Michigan Andrea Pérez Sánchez Gr. 3 We were in a car heading to the shore of a lake where we could see the Northern Lights. When we got to the Lake we put on coats and jackets. When I stepped outside it was so cold it felt like we are at the North Pole. I went to where my dad was standing and got a blanket. After we all finished getting a blanket and chair, we headed to the path that led to the shore of the Lake. When we got there, we set up the chairs. “Do you want to sit in my lap,’’ my mom asks pointing to Rebeca who was sitting in my dad’s lap. “OK,’’ I agreed. I got out of my chair and sat down on my mom’s lap. After 10 minutes I started to get sleepy, so I closed my eyes. About 10 minutes later I opened my eyes again. I saw that Rebeca and my dad were folding the chairs and blankets. We went to the path and went to the car. Once we all got in, we went to the hotel to sleep.

Sepoy Rebellion – an excerpt Charles Healy Gr. 7 The Sepoy Rebellion put an end to the East Indian company and the British set up a well-run Indian government, in addition to this there was much more western technology being imported to India.

The ability of the Indian government was extremely limited during this period (British India and the Great Rebellion). The greater part of its resources went to its armed forces and there were no plans on improvement (British India and the Great Rebellion). European influence with strongest in the towns of India (British India and the Great Rebellion). At the time, the Indian economy was mostly stagnant (British India and the Great Rebellion). The British hold was mostly focused on what the British considered as traditional intellectuals, the authority of Brahmins and of Dextrin’s of caste separation grew even stronger instead of weaker (Indian Mutiny). In addition, taxation was more rigorously enforced (Indian Mutiny).

The areas that rebelled in 1857 were areas where the British created discontent, and deposed Indians from their thrones without attracting enough support (Indian Mutiny). Western influence was incredibly low in the towns, taxes were exceedingly high, and the chance to make profit was extremely low (Indian Mutiny).

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Shadows of Sherwood – a book review Johnny Sumnar Gr. 6 My book was Shadows of Sherwood, written by Kekla Magoon. It’s about a girl named Robyn Loxley. She likes to run around at night and steal things and cause mischief, or what she calls fun. One night she is out at Compound 410, her favorite place to rob for electrical parts. That night was different and there were more defenses than usual, but she dismissed this and looked for her parts. Once she finds them, a mysterious alarm sounds, and she runs for it back to her house.

Once back at her house, she’s mortified by what she sees. There is blood on the floor and her parents are missing. She realizes that male voices are coming from downstairs. She finds something her father left her and runs for the forest.

That night, as Robyn was at Compound 410, Nott City governor Ignomus Crown ordered his soldiers to capture and imprison all the Parliament members in Nott City, so that he could have full control over governmental affairs. Basically, he wanted to be a dictator. But they didn’t account for the fact that some Parliament members or their family wouldn’t be at home. Robyn saved her own life by breaking the rules.

Sharks – Are Humans More Dangerous?

Jack Erbeck Gr. 4 There are more than 480 species of sharks. Out of all these species, only three, the tiger, the bull, and the great white shark, attack without being provoked and kill humans. Each year, approximately 80 people are attacked, and about five people die as a result. Meanwhile, each year, more than 100 million sharks are killed by humans. The main reason that so many sharks die is the shark fin trade. The fins are the main ingredient in shark fin soup which is considered a delicacy. The fins are often the only part of the shark that is used, and after the fin is cut from the shark, it is dropped back in the ocean.

While sharks may be deadly, they are far less of a danger to humans than we are to them.

Should Pregnant Women Be Entitled to Parking Spots?

Kylie Eastman Gr. 7 Pregnant women should be able to use handicap parking spaces. They already go through so much whether its emotional, physical, or mental difficulties. Some pregnant women have other infants. If their spouse is at work or just not with them at the time, trips to places as simple as the grocery store can be a hassle. Between walking to the entrance and walking out, it is a lot of work for a pregnant woman. Pregnant woman should be able to use handicap parking spaces because they are susceptible to disease, go through tough times while pregnant, and should be treated with care. The first reason pregnant women should get handicap parking spaces is because they can get sick easily. That is not even including the hardship of maneuvering her way through a crowded public space. Especially during a time like this while a pregnant woman is very susceptible to Covid-19. Pregnant women who have COVID-19 appear more likely to develop respiratory complications requiring intensive care than women who are not pregnant (Elsevier). Pregnant women want to make their public trips as brief as possible and handicap parking spots can help with this.

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Sir Edmund Hillary – a Capstone excerpt Bennett Fager Gr. 5 Sir Edmund Hillary climbed mountains and went to Antarctica. He shows tons of courage by withstanding the cold temperatures and low oxygen levels. So, I think he is an adventurous person.

Sir Edmund Hillary was the first person to climb Mount Everest and the first person to go to Antarctica on a motored vehicle. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand July 20, 1919. He went to school with thirteen-year-olds when he was 11. His dad was very harsh on him. His mother gave him the sympathy he needed. He died on Jan 11, 2008 in New Zealand.

I think that by doing a lot of the things Edmund Hillary did I can be much braver. One way I think I can be more courageous is to not listen to people saying that you cannot is one way I think that I can be more courageous. Another way I can be more courageous is to is to work with people better than I currently do. The Last way I can be courageous is to help others around me. In conclusion I can be a lot more courageous.

Sister Lumena – an excerpt Dylan Sougstad Gr. 6 I have just been called into sister Julie office and told that I’m going to New York in America. I am so excited to go. I’ve been so bored. Sorry, sorry I forgot to tell you my name, it’s Sister Lumena. It’s also my 20th birthday. I just want to play board games but no, too much fun for me. Well, I hope I can make a different, but I’ll do my best.

I’m on a boat. I am very seasick right now. I’ve seen lot of fishes like clow-fish, I’ve seen dolphins, and a big fat whale! I don’t miss my home because all we do is read. I am so excited to get to America, but these last six weeks have awful.

I’m finally off that boat and look at that river it’s so cool. All those building and boats. This country is so much better than Belgium. No! I just got told we have to get back on a boat.

Sisters of Notre Dame – an excerpt Peter Misrach Gr. 6 In Namur, Belgium in 1840, there are roads, and it has a river, so they used boats. Many buildings look like castles and the other buildings by the river were close together. These buildings were not as wide, but taller than many of our buildings today. The convent is brick and the there is a river close by.

During this time in Belgium, there was killing of religious people.

The voyage of Eliza Thornton happened in 1840. There were fourteen passengers on this ship. The sailing vessels of 1840 had a lot of sails. The Eliza Thornton departed from Antwerp on September 9th, 1840. The Sisters arrived about a month later, October 19, 1840 in New York in America. The trip across the Atlantic Ocean in 1840 had enormous waves. And it was sometimes called the sea of darkness because it was so dangerous.

Sisters – an excerpt Emily Bolan Gr. 7 I dejectedly built the body alone. I moved on to the head, wondering if the nearby sledders were wondering why a dispirited eighth grader was sitting all alone building a snowman.

I had placed eyes and a mouth on my creation and was wondering where to get a hat when I saw two pink snow boots beside me. Elena removed her own hat, placing it upon my lopsided snowman’s head and busied herself with her own snow structure.

I was glad that I didn’t have to sit alone. Sometimes the day-to-day fighting gets under my skin, but I was reminded that, at the end of the day, my sister will always have my back.

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Sisters of Notre Dame – an excerpt Bebe Heekin Gr. 6 At the Covent I have helped 236 homeless people. I also have helped the Sisters get packed. I’m excited, but I’m going to miss my family a lot. I think I can make a difference with young students’ education. I am so delighted build schools for young kids. I am overjoyed to teach God’s word to these kids.

The six-week journey is boring. A lot of the sisters got sick. Kids would throw toy balls at the walls, so I heard “thump, thump, BANG, CRASH.” I taught lots of kids how to read. I did not get sick, but I did get a MAJOR headache. I saw beautiful sunrises and sunsets, I loved seeing them. I am homesick, I wish to see my family again, I probably won’t though.

In Cincinnati, it has lots of buildings and horses. It has bright green grass and a clear blue sky. It has lots of little shops, my favorite is the book shop. I meet a lot of students; they were nice. The country is different because they don’t have many breakfast restaurants. The riverboat ride was very long and boring. This time I got seasick.

Size of the straw structure affect if the egg breaks or not when dropped from a set height?

Tyler Gier Gr. 5 The egg drop experiment is a physics lesson in Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy and Binding Energy. The testable question of my experiment is “Does the size of the straw structure affect if the egg breaks or not when dropped from a set height?” My hypothesis was that all eggs in structures of 9” or larger would survive the fall and structures smaller than 9” would have at least 1 egg break. I used standard large eggs, bulk straws, duct tape and other easily obtained materials. I dropped multiple straw structures of different lengths and saw if the egg inside broke when it hit the ground. The structures started at 3” and went up by 3” each time to 15” max. I tested five structures of each size and repeated all drops from the same location at the same height. My results did not support my hypothesis at all.

Only two eggs survived: one at the 12” size, and one at the 15” size. This makes me think that the minimum straw size for all eggs to survive has to be a larger than 15”. This also could mean that there is a problem in my design, and straw length doesn’t matter. My experiment is important because it investigates the least amount material needed to safely drop something fragile. This is useful in the real world by helping us to drop other fragile things from various heights using less materials (like safely landing astronauts, or air-dropped care packages).

Skeletons Quentin Jones Gr. 4 Did you know you have 206 bones in your body? Your femur is the strongest bone in your body. Any cylinder type bone in your body, except your spine, is a long bone. An example of a long bone is your funny bone, Humerus, or your arm. Your femur is also a long bone and it is also known as your thigh.

Calcium, which comes from milk, helps to keep these bones strong. That’s why your parents say drink your milk. Your femur can hold and up to 30 times as much as an adult weight before snapping so that’s a lot. And that’s long bones! Irregular bones have an odd shape. Your spine is made up of smaller bones. I bet you’re wondering what’s in those small bones. There is a blue cord that goes all the way up to your brain. This cord is in animal’s spines too. Short bones are cube shaped. Short bones are also located in your wrist and ankle. These small bones that are in your wrist are called carpels and the ones in your ankle are called tarsals. These short bones are really small and weird shaped.

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Skiing Dylan MacDonald Gr. 3 One of my favorite activities is skiing. I’ve been skiing since I was 18 months old. When you decide to go skiing you think the first thing you do is go down the mountain. But no, you must first you must wear warm clothes like snow pants, a neck warmer, coats, long johns, and ski socks.

When you go skiing and you’re a beginner you probably want to look for the green circle trails because they are easy. If you’re an experienced skier you might like a black diamond because those are harder. When you are skiing and you see a blue square, you probably will be able to do it because blue’s aren’t hard, they’re just harder than green. When you ski and see a double black diamond, you’re probably not going to be able to do it because that is the hardest type of trail to ski. If you are a beginner you probably can do a green, and a blue square, but if you are a beginner, you can’t do a double black diamond.

Skiing at Perfect North Borui Xue Gr. 3 I am going to talk about skiing. Have a fun time learning about skiing. Dad and I were getting the equipment; we need to be ready to go. Each person needed snowshoes, skis, poles, and gloves. We got our equipment at the renting store and we’re ready to go. We carried our equipment over to the tracks.

The track you’re on might be slippery so be careful. Now we need to put on our equipment in order, first we need snowshoes then the helmet and gloves, and finally stick you snowshoes onto your skis.

Then you can grab your poles and start skiing down the track, have fun. In the middle of the day, we stopped to get lunch, we got a delicious meal full of energetic kinds of food. After lunch, we rested a little and continued skiing. When its lunchtime, try to eat food that gives you energy. That will give you the energy you need for this high energy sport. Lastly, you need to rest for at least an hour, or you will get a stomachache. You should not drink sodas like Coke and Fanta. I suggest you drink water. You need to drink enough water to keep going. Have some fun.

Small Moments Parker Adams Gr. 4 Click! My dad, my grandpa, and I were going down to the dock to go fishing. my dad said that if I caught a fish, I should call his name. “What if you don’t hear me?” I questioned.

“Don’t worry about that,” my dad replied.

“Hey, Dad, did you know that some fish can see better in dirty water?’ I asked.

“No, I did not know that,” he responded.

First, I cast out in the 15 feet deep water. Then, I was looking around, and it looked like there was a 1-foot fish in the 3 feet deep water. I cast out and got a bite. My grandpa shouted, “Wow, that quick!”

Next, I started reeling it in, but I was right and wrong. The right part was it was a fish. The wrong part was it was not 1 foot. It was 3 feet! When I realized how big the fish was, I started screaming for my dad. He yelled back that he was coming. I gave the fishing rod to him as soon as he got to me. The fish was so strong that it almost pulled my dad into the lake. After 10 minutes of fighting the beast, he finally pulled out a 25-pound carp. Conquering the carp felt like a good way to end the day.

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SND – The Voyage of the Eliza Thornton Beatrice Nery Gr. 6 We have been sailing over the Atlantic Ocean for a week. On the day of the departure, the other sisters and I headed down to the docks. There we boarded our ship, the Eliza Thornton. Large and majestic, she towers over the other ships. The ship has three masts and is built with sturdy oak wood. There are about eight sails made of white canvas, unfurling from the masts like the wings of a great seabird. I am writing this sitting near the prow, which is long and thin. I had a dreadful case of seasickness and, I must admit, spent the first few days of our voyage leaning over the side of the boat and retching out the contents of my stomach. I am feeling better now, as any sickness I had is dispelled by my excitement at being out on sea. I am incredibly lucky to be able to travel into the world and see more than Namur, but who can tell the misfortunes that may befall us. We have five weeks more to sail until we arrive at New York City. Then we will take a riverboat down to Cincinnati. The most notable event of our journey so far was when Sister Louise called me over to the side of the boat with a cry of “Eleanor, look!” just in time to see a breaching whale. Our ship’s captain informed us it was a “humpback whale.” We have only travelled for one week, but I am already homesick for my home in Belgium!

So Long Ago Kenyon Byrd Gr. 7 I have a mother who read to me so long ago. In the old rocking chair that I use to know. Back when life was simple just me and you but now it’s time to start something new. I have a mother who read to be stories about a dog who was adventurous as a mysterious fog. The dog’s name was Biscuit, and you could never risk it. I have mom who read to me a story about a critter that when bedtime was mentioned he grew very bitter. But nevertheless, he had to go to bed so he could rest his little head. I have a mom who read to me a story about a llama. Who before bed just wanted his mama. Laying on your lap with little Froggy are some of the memories that will never become foggy. I have a Mom who read to me a story about a baby and also one very special lady. And as the years pass, I want you to see that.

Soccer – an excerpt RJ Johnson Gr. 3 Soccer is a popular sport, and it is fun to play. Here is how to play soccer. It is important to listen to the coach so you can be successful in what you are doing. To win, you need to pass to others and score.

That is called an assist. The team with the most goals wins the game.

Doing tricks helps you to trick the other team in thinking they were going to get the ball. You may also trick the goalie. You can act like you are shooting but pass it instead. When the goalie is confused, then you can shoot the ball and score. You can also do many kinds of other tricks. For example, you can pick up the ball between your legs and jump. This will confuse your opponent. You can learn these tricks by practicing.

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Social Media Negative Effects – a persuasive excerpt Allie Reuter Gr. 7 While it can be fun to post about a vacation with your friend, it can also backlash; people or predators can comment rude things or even try to hack your account. Social media has become a big part of society. Some believe social media is not bad for teenager’s mental health and can be a fun way to socialize, but social media can be very harmful to teenager’s mental health. The amount of cyberbullying over the years has been increasing rapidly. In addition to this, teenagers need to be careful when they scroll through their recommended page because there can be bad influences. Finally, social media can also become highly addictive which can be a distraction when trying to get schoolwork done. Social media can negatively affect teenager’s mental health because of cyberbullying, bad influences and can become an addiction. A major reason social media can negatively affect teenager’s mental health is cyberbullying. Cyberbullying takes place on social media most of the time, but it can also happen in online games and other apps or websites. This can lead to depression and plays a big part in society today. “People gauge on other’s opinions which leads to bullying, especially online” (Mayo Clinic, 9). This expresses that when you post things on social media, people might disagree or dislike what you shared.

This can lead to others gauging on your account, which later leads to cyberbullying. A lot of websites and apps, however, have tried to install features to limit cyberbullying, but it isn’t enough.

Sportswear – an excerpt Callie Chadwell Gr. 3 Sportswear can be very helpful! It keeps you organized during the game, and safe. For example, shin guards keep your ankles protected and they keep you from getting hurt. If you get hit in the shin guard, it won’t hurt! Cleats are the shoes you wear in soccer. They have pointy bumps on the bottom of them, so they grip the ground. Long pants just keep you warm. The long socks look good with the cleats and hold the shin guards in place. The uniform is very important. It is the way you know which person is on your team.

Squirrels Santi Dwyer Gr. 3 I am going to teach you about squirrels. You are going to learn about their bodies, their babies, and their habitat. Squirrels are unique animals. They have very cool tails. Their tails are used to climb and help them balance. They also shade themselves with it. They also have sharp claws. A squirrel’s sharp claws are for climbing. Babies are blind when born; they have no fur as well. Squirrels only open one eye when they are born. Squirrel habitats are in the woods; they live in trees in the woods. Sometimes they go in their homes to hide from predators, and also for shelter. If you wanted to learn more about squirrels, check out a book at the library.

Stand! Occupy! Protest! In 2012 Nico Palacio-Vega Gr. 4 Stand! Occupy! Protest! In 2012 was painted by Aminah Robinson in 2012. The style is modern folk art. She used watercolors and pen as materials. The painting uses bright vivid colors to liven it up. It also has depth in the form of larger people in the front and smaller people in the back. Also, the words on the signs get smaller and smaller. One remarkably interesting thing about it is the triangle like shape that is created by the people’s height. if there were two imaginary lines going up, they could form a triangle and the top of it is right above the man in green.

What I see happening in this picture is African Americans protesting for rights like better housing, better education, and civil rights laws. I think the artist is trying to tell us is through this picture that African Americans deserve equality. This painting shares Aminah Robinson’s perspective as an African American woman. She is telling a story of hope, courage, and commitment to a better life by African Americans. This artwork documents the struggle that people face for justice. I think this painting has a big impact of how you think. Aminah Robinson’s art made me think about how other people are treated differently than I am, and it has made an impact in my life.

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Starbucks Chick Ava Dona Gr. 7 On one humid and lovely day in Australia, a chick named Felix was dying for a nice, cold, thirst-quenching drink from Starbucks. Felix loved Starbucks more than anything in the world. The thing that held him back from getting his delicious drink was that there was no Starbucks in Australia!

Felix could only get his Starbucks drink once a month in Korea. So, Felix had an idea to open the first Starbucks in Australia! Felix called over his big and broad friend Chris the kangaroo to help him start his Starbucks mission. The two friends started off with where the Starbucks should be located.

“I think we should put the Starbucks right here, in our hometown!” said Felix. He wanted the Starbucks to be as close as possible to him so he wouldn’t have to drive far. Chris agreed with Felix about putting the Starbucks in their hometown for it would be easier to access the location.

Struggle of My Life – an excerpt Braden Bricking Gr. 7 The game was tied 2-2, in the championship. There were two outs, and there were 3 balls and 2 strikes. The pitch was coming, and I swung as I hit the ball I heard, RING RING RING. I was sadly dreaming. Hi, my name is Nick Lunar, I’m thirteen years old and I go to Mt. Everest Academy in California. I was a normal middle schooler except for my wheelchair. I was born with this disease that slowly made my body paralyzed. Right now, from my hips down are paralyzed. I got ready then went downstairs, by a ramp, and saw my mom making breakfast and already ready for work. I ate my bagel and rolled into my car When I got to school, I grabbed my math folder and textbook and head for class. After then I had English then lunch. I got through English, so it was time for my least favorite part of the day, lunch.

Nobody ever to sit with and so I usually sit in the corner by myself, then we go to recess and then I read my book. The final class of the day was science, and we were doing a lab. I got paired with Jacob, a quiet kid like me, and we were the first ones to complete it and we both got a 100% when everyone else didn’t get over an 80%.

Summer Vacation – an excerpt Jasmine McCarter Gr. 7 Chloe and Sarah both are 15 years old and live in Ocean Side, California. Their parents are on vacation together in South Carolina and have been there for over 3 weeks. They didn’t bring their daughters because when they left for this trip the girls were still in school. They didn’t want to take them out of school because they are in their last year of high school and their parents want them to get the best education to prepare them for college. Sarah and Chloe are home from school and are both thinking about things they should do together over the Summer. Sarah comes up with an amazing idea that they should head to Hawaii for a vacation to visit their new island that recently formed. The name of the island that recently formed is Wonderland Chloe saw on her phone that they are having a huge discount for the plane tickets.

She immediately texts Chloe, “OMG WE HAVE TO GO TO HAWAII.” “OMG YES THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!” exclaimed Chloe.

Chloe agrees to go with her but then she remembered that her parents are going to be home soon for her mother’s birthday.

“Don’t worry Chloe, we will be back before your mother’s birthday,” sighed Sarah.

Later, that day Sarah and Chloe meetup at a local Starbucks to talk more about their trip to Hawaii.

They both order something to drink.

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Super Ratty Owen Hodge Gr. 6 I was sad because I had no friends. A rat appeared out of nowhere! He jumped straight into my arms, and from that moment we were best friends. We played together, talked, and laughed together.

Ratty was a rare type of rat. He was from Madagascar. Mama was a cold person. Always telling me what I did wrong and never what I did right. I was never planning to tell her about ratty because I knew she wouldn’t like it. I told her anyway. That night I heard a squeal. Mama had given ratty some terrible medicine. All my “friends” were sorry for me. That’s when I realized that when you look around everyone loves you... when nobody likes you, that is the loneliest feeling of all. If ratty was still alive he would have fire powers. I had my wonderful ratty with me when a carton of radioactive goo covered his body.

Ratty became Super Ratty, and the world was never the same.

Surfing Adventures Max Heimbouch Gr. 4 It all started when I got to surf camp in Amelia Island, Florida. The first day of camp was mainly talking about theory of surfing, the ocean, and how big and powerful the waves are. After the theory part, we had to walk across the street. Once we got to the beach, I noticed that the waves were huge and even intimidating. The instructor said that the waves were 6 feet tall.

Once we got into the water, it was hard to paddle because the waves were so big, and they were crushing rapidly. After I got past the waves, our group had to keep paddling to the right because of the very strong currents. Whenever I would try to ride a wave, someone else would take it so I would have to wait for another one. In result, my arms were getting tired from paddling up the current over and over again. At some point I wanted to give up, but I didn’t. Instead, I kept on fighting those waves and once I finally caught one, I was so excited that I forgot about all the exhaustion and frustration. Once camp was over, my body felt like I was going to pass out. However, after all that hard work and knowledge that I gained while there, it was completely worth it.

I truly enjoyed and appreciated this surf camp because it gives me more to do when I am on summer vacation. Not only did I learn how to surf, but I also learned a great deal about the ocean and how I should approach it in the future because the ocean can also be dangerous.

Surrealistic piece – The Wall Caroline Reynolds Gr. 4 Mel Kadel created The Wall in 2008. This modern, surrealistic piece was constructed from coffee stains, pen, and ink. The artwork appears to be bumpy in texture which was caused by the coffee-stained surface. The color reminds me of sepia. As a whole, the painting is muted and drab in color, but there is a spot of blue that draws the viewer into the image. Inside this bright spot, there are red flowers growing. The three girls in the center of the artwork helping each other climb from the monochromatic wasteland through this opening also draw the viewer to the flowers.

The coffee markings appear to act as a hand clenching a broken necklace. The broken necklace being the muted blue opening with the red and pink flowers sprouting from the rocky ground. The other openings are also parts of the broken necklace. The ladies climbing act as a picture inside of the necklace falling out in shreds, leaving only the people from the picture on the hand. I believe that Mel Kadel is trying to tell a story through her artwork. I believe that she has been through hard times. I think that the broken necklace symbolizes the hard work and struggles in her life, and how she is slowly recovering.

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Swimming and Diving – an excerpt Anna Baker Gr. 3 Swimming is for everyone no matter what the age level or fitness. I know two famous swimmers.

One is the best swimmer in the world. The other is the best female swimmer in the world. Katie Ledecky is the best female swimmer in the world. Let me tell you a little bit about Katie. She went to Standford University. After college, she made two world records in Womens’ 400 freestyle (16 laps), 800 freestyle (32 laps), and of course in a 1500-meter race. Katie Ledecky’s best stroke is freestyle.

She won 5 gold medals in freestyle. Her coaches are Greg Meehan and Bruce Gemmel. Now let’s talk about Michael Phelps. He went to the Olympics 5 times and won 23 gold medals. He went to the world championships 10 times. He also went to the Nationals. His nickname is the “Flying Fish,” because he’s so good at butterfly. He looks like he is flying across the water. His coach is Bob Bowman. He is an excellent coach. Now Michael is married to Nicole Johnson.

Talking Time – a persuasive essay excerpt Gauri Kulkarni Gr. 6 I think that talking time is good and helpful to many people. It lowers many mental illnesses. A lot of people during Covid-19 have been depressed and anxious. If a teacher designated 20 minute a day to talk, the rate and percent of mental illness go down. Therefore, I think that talk time is necessary.

I think that designated talk time could be necessary. Like I said in previously, I think that talking makes us happier. I think that when somebody talk to you it makes you happier. If you talk to somebody about something stressing you or making you uncomfortable you can feel relieved if you talk about it. I think that talking about that kind of thing is good for your mental health.

From research I realized that talking time lowers anxiety. I found that on many websites it shows that talk time lowers anxiety a lot. Kids feel like they can talk to someone about what worries them. It can scare someone to talk about how their feeling or if they are scared. It can help someone more than you know it helps them.

Teams for Soccer Andreas Pagdadis Gr. 3 I am going to be writing about different types of soccer teams. Soccer is a sport where there are eleven players on the field. Also, you can’t use your hands unless you are a goalkeeper. Soccer is usually fun when you get the hang of it. If you are already on an AFC team you already know that. Like Lionel Messi he is on a team called FC Barcelona. You could say FCB, or football club Barcelona. Pro teams are the teams that you could make when you are an adult. A lot of the famous soccer players are on professional teams. You can also play for a country. Lionel Messi made a professional team when he was 13 years old. (Unlike Messi) most players make pro teams when they finish college. Lionel Messi made a pro team when he was 13 years old because he was good at soccer. A club team is a team that you can join when you are a kid. You can stay on a club team until you’re 18 years old. Here are some recommendations, you could join Cincinnati Elite FC, Kings Hammer and Cincinnati United. Club teams are useful in soccer. Club teams are useful to help you get to advanced teams.

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Tension – Hostility Between Colonists and British Henry Ahouse Gr. 4 The American colonists had been angry at the British government for a long time before the Revolutionary War began in 1775. The French and Indian War lasted for 9 long years, from 1754-1763 and was fought because the British colonist needed more land. However, to stop another war from breaking out, King George III made the Proclamation of 1763, which meant that the colonists could not cross the Appalachian Mountains. This angered the colonists and was the start of over a decade of issues between England and the American Colonies.

In order to make back some of the money that Great Britain had spent on colonial expansion, they passed a series of acts. These acts taxed everyday items that the colonists used, like sugar, molasses, and indigo dye to name a few. The colonists were enraged by the heavy taxes, and they loudly protested them. These unfair taxes and the lack of representation in parliament paved the way for conflict and eventually the Revolutionary War. Thing About Luck – a book review excerpt Aliviah McCarter Gr. 6 The Thing about Luck is about a twelve-year-old Japanese girl who is named Summer. The story starts with her saying that it’s a story of her family’s year of bad luck. That year started with her catching malaria. She also says the most important relationship in her life was with her younger brother Jaz. In the beginning Jaz has issues finding friends. In the season Summer’s grandma says to help him find friends. Because Summer’s parents have been called back to Japan to provide care for elderly relatives, Summer and her grandparents will have to work extra hard to make sure that payments on the mortgage will be paid and will always be concerned for Summer’s parents. Summer and her family leave their home in Kansas for their first job of the season in Texas. The job is hard as Summer’s original responsibilities at home including to keep up with her homework. She helps take care of Jaz and helps her grandma in the regular chores like serving meals for the crew that is working in the fields. Faced with the possibility of her family losing necessary money, Summer is forced to face her fears.

Tiger Life – a book review Teagan Wood Gr. 3 This book was about what tigers eat. Like liking her babies and having stripes. Have a perfect time reading this book. When baby tigers are born, they cannot see yet. After a couple of weeks, they open their eyes. They start to eat meat. Baby tigers are called cups. A female tiger can also have two to four cubs in a litter. Stripes on a club spur will get darker the older they get. Tigers cubs eyes are blue when they are first born but will turn bright orange overtime. The first two months of their life they only drink milk. You know that type is high stakes, right question well if you did not know you do. Tigers also identified other tigers by their stripes. Each tiger has different stripes. Tigers can have zigzags, some stripes, and dark even if it’s cool. Tigers eat all sorts of things like rabbits, birds, squirrels, and even deer. They also hunt for whatever they can find. They do not sound like picky eaters do they.

Tiki and Shelice – an excerpt Clare Schaefer Gr. 7 It was a normal evening for Shelice, she was just staying inside at home, like usual. Her coral house had blue coral walls with a roof made of scallop shells; her floors were made with layers and layers of lush seaweed. When you first entered her house, Sea Manor, there was an entry with a table made of spoons along with conk shells in replacement of potted plants. Many would often walk by and try to get a glimpse of inside to figure out who owned the manor, but she rarely came outside, Shelice was not like the other sea creatures.

She was born with a rare disorder where in hard situations her fins would start to freeze, and she would become unable to move from fear. Her mom became aware of her condition when she first entered primary school and her teacher, Ms. Glo, called from the office with a concerned tone of her voice.

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Toy Maker Will Fox Gr. 5 I am applying for a toy maker. I am qualified for this job because I am hard-working, I love to build things, and I have vast experience with tools. I help work around the house and have done it for years.

I attend The Summit Country Day School and feel my strengths are a strong work ethic, I play on the school basketball team, and I have good grades in school and will continue to do well. I also get up early in the morning. I feel I am the best person for the job because I am very responsible, and I will work hard. I look forward to hearing from you.

Trumpet Sounds – A Science Fair Abstract Landon Miller Gr. 5 My testable question was, “Will the sound of a trumpet change, if covered by a material?” My hypothesis for this question was the sound pitch will go down and get quieter, based on the mass of the material, the more mass, the lower and quieter the sound. For my background information, I needed to figure out a lot about sound. I learned how sound waves move, constantly bouncing off particles in the air. to test my hypothesis, I used a trumpet and placed materials with different masses against the bell while measuring the volume with a phone app. In my results, paper was the best for muffling noise, while polyester was the worst. These results supported my hypothesis. In sum my experiment was important because it can help soundproof things and make lower noises for bands.

Uniforms – an excerpt Evie Cooper Gr. 7 Third, a uniform is beneficial because it develops a sense of belonging. Some students often feel like the “odd one out” or the lone wolf precisely because of the clothes they wear. It’s simply and utterly ridiculous. President Emmanuel Macron of France thought uniforms could be a symbol of national unity. When uniforms are in use, everyone looks similar and unified. A school uniform teaches students to dress smartly and take pride in their appearance. Uniforms take another stance in unity because they make others feel unified with one another. When everyone is dressed similarly, it creates a formal and equal presence. To add, the use of uniforms by American schools has been spreading and encouraged by support from presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Uniforms are enforced by people of a higher social status along the basic economy. This comes to show how important uniforms are to many individuals. A school uniform means that students do not have to worry about peer pressure when it comes to their clothes. When everybody is dressed the same, there is no competition about being dressed in the latest trend, which can put pressure on students. Uniforms should complement learning culture. Students should have a proper expectation of professionalism. When students wear uniforms, they feel included. I firmly believe that uniforms highly contribute to students feeling less pressured to wear a certain clothing article. Understandably, uniforms perceive students as alike with one another.

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Video Games – a persuasive essay excerpt Danny Beyerbach Gr. 6 Most people think of video games as addictive, time-wasting, and generally negative. Video games are considered harmful privileges, and even banned in some households. Contrary to a widespread belief, this is not completely accurate. In fact, certain stereotypically discredited games can be advantageous to brain development. Minecraft, in particular, stands out from the crowd as one of the most beneficial games in the world.

A study was published in the International Journal of Engineering & Technology titled “The Effects of Minecraft Videogame on Creativity.” This study was conducted on 8 undergraduates. The results showed that Minecraft can “stimulate the brain to activate both parts of the brain.” Results also showed that students who played Minecraft were much more creative in tasks such as drawing pictures and drafting stories. Furthermore, the students who played Minecraft had higher attention levels and made better decisions. In conclusion, Minecraft can activate both parts of the brain. This contributes to attention span and attention levels (it also contributes to quicker and better decision making) and boosted creativity outside the virtual world.

Video Game Club – a persuasive essay excerpt Shaun Rice Gr. 6 I chose having a videogame club at school, so I could have a better understanding of the games I play. Videogame club will strengthen our bonds by playing together on different genres of games, because we will know each other better. I play video games a lot and my favorite games are 2K and Madden. I am good at these games, but I can only play on days off from school. In conclusion, a videogame club is my dream and it has many good qualities. My first claim is about friendship. Students will interact with each other more often and get closer to each other. When we spend more time together, we will get use to each other’s personalities. You will gain new bonds with friends. In conclusion, videogames build friendships. In addition to friendships, you can gain money. You can earn money by Esports and tournaments. YouTube also, because of sponsorships and ads. You learn how to manage your money faster. In conclusion, you will obtain better money management skills.

Voyage of Eliza Thornton – a Sisters of Notre Dame excerpt Emy Schurmann Gr. 6 Today I am boarding a ship to America called the Eliza Thornton. On the voyage it has been very interesting on the way, I get on the boat and halfway there I get seasick and let’s just say it didn’t end well... anyways the only interesting thing I saw was a yellow and blue fish that reminded me of flounder from the little mermaid, but the worst thing is that get homesick easily, so I hope to see my parents soon. Alright so when I arrived at Cincinnati it looked like one of those 1700 movies, so far, I have not met anybody famous which I was sad about, one thing about this place is that they have a lake and where I come from, we don’t, so unfair, anyways before I arrived the boat ride was neutral because nothing special happened. I arrive at the summit finally and I start teaching, while teaching in the summit there are some tough times, but I manage to pass. In the classroom it feels like I’m in one of those.

My favorite subject is language I teach it, I also teach 6th grade btw. Now for the most important question “what will I do if someone misbehaves?” well I give them a good old spank. Finally, after many years my retirement is good, but I miss spanking people, during my advances I start to relax and think about all the faces of the kids who I spanked, very satisfying plus I never got caught spanking a child so everything’s good. My final reflection is that I’m very proud to teach the students from all schools and now I’m ready for my next adventure, time to go home...

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Vulture Jake Heekin Gr. 4 The vulture is a large bird that is found in many areas of the world. It is known to be a scavenger, and it is often viewed as disgusting. However, it is a very interesting and important bird.

Vultures can stand almost 3 feet tall and have a wingspan of up to nine feet. Their feathers are white, brown, and black in color. Many vultures have a bald head which is important in helping them remain clean while eating. Vultures also tuck their heads when cold and stretch their necks and wings in the heat. When vultures are approached or frightened, they may vomit as self-defense. These adaptations are important for the bird, but they make it seem strange and a little scary.

Sadly, the vulture is endangered because of loss of habitat, collisions with windmills used to produce wind energy, and poisoning. The poisoning is often because the vultures have eaten on a poisoned carcass. It is important to help this endangered bird because the vulture is critical to the ecosystem. They reduce the spread of diseases and pest population across the world. The world without vultures would be a very scary place.

Waiting for the Bus Sophia Lei Gr. 3 We were at the airport parking lot at 5:30 in the morning. ‘’ Brr’’, I whispered, my jacket was in my suitcase, that I didn’t want to get everything out, so I stood in the dark and cold night. My family was with me, and my little brother was as cold as me. Our teeth were chattering, and our bodies were shaky my brother asked “when will the bus come?’’ I said ‘’ I am not sure.’’ Our mom, dad, grandma, and grandpa were waiting for the bus. We saw lights my mom and dad yelled “over here’’ the bus passed us and picked up other people it kept going like this until a bus stop. We raced over to get on the bus but when we were going to go on the bus the bus driver said “I do not have any more space. Please wait for different bus. So we stood there again. It was very quiet. I waited everybody waited I broke the silence, I asked ‘’ mom when will the bus come? Finally we got on the bus, and we were off. I will never forget that day.

The Wall Eileen Bolan Gr. 4 The artwork, The Wall, was created by Mel Kadel in 2008. It is modern art with surrealistic elements. The piece consists of ink, pen, and coffee. In it there are three young women that are stacked on top of each other. They are climbing a wall. Here and there on the wall are holes. There is one special hole that looks out into a field of multicolor flowers as tall as trees. Everything in the artwork is dull and monochromatic except this opening. The colors of the flowers are warm reds, oranges, and yellows that complement the bright blue of the sky that fills the opening. This hole is the goal of the girls. The other holes all have the same jagged rocky texture filling them. They look dangerous and unpleasant.

The three women are trying to escape this place.

Mel Kadel’s artwork tells story about working together. I think that the women are sisters. The look alike and the clothing they are wearing is almost the same. It looks as if there is blowing wind causing the hair to flow outward creating movement in the solid rocky area enclosing them. I believe that the sepia colored wall as everything that is standing in their way, blocking them from reaching their goals.

It is through banding together that they will be able to reach their goal and escape what has contained them.

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Wanderer – an excerpt Haley Baker Gr. 7 I raise my nose to the moon, letting out an eerie howl, and getting an equally haunting response from my fellow canines. I start running through the familiar woods; I feel right at home with the soft grass brushing against my paws, the wind howling in my ears, and the bark on the trees rubbing my skin. My thin body can slip through tight spaces in between trees quickly and my four legs can propel me forward to my destination, the willow tree I call home. I visit different people, helping them through challenging times, and sometimes they will talk to me, even though I can’t reply. They all have different names for me as well. The quiet girl with the scars on her wrists calls me Flip, the sky boy looking up at the stars calls me Fella, the nature girl with her head in the clouds calls me Angel, and the angry boy who runs with me calls me Buddy. I’m not going to lie, the name that nature girl gave me feels strange to me because I am a DOG, not an ANGEL. Angels help people and have wings. I just try to survive and be a comfort to others while doing so.

I once had a home, but then the kind old man died, and his children didn’t want me and put me out on the streets. Since then, I have been a wanderer, always moving from place to place, scavenging for food, and trying my best to survive.

War of Ten Races – an excerpt Hana Conte Gr. 7 The orcs charged down the hill into the halflings’ Helda’s home. She crouched lower in the barrel where she was hiding. An orc ran into the alleyway. She held her breath as it sniffed the air. It ran out again. The war had been going on for years. No one knew exactly where or when it started, or who caused the orcs to start it. No one in Midhaven knew much about it. The war hadn’t come to them, until now. They hadn’t seen them coming until the army reached the crest of the hill. They were still pouring down the side. Helda didn’t know there were that many orcs in the entire world.

She smelled smoke. They were burning everything. She watched as the little schoolhouse she had grown up in turned to ashes. She could see her neighbors jumping out of their house windows in fear, only to land on the tip of an orc’s sharp spear. Bodies littered the street. Helda could only see a little through a crack in the barrel. Just the stream of orcs, and her lovely little town burning. She felt a lone tear trickle down her face. She didn’t know if it was from the smoke. She saw two orcs in shiny plate armor dragging the mayor to the center of the town. They tied him up on the fountain. They made him watch as his citizens were slaughtered, and his town was burned down. She tried to drown out the sound of the screams. The battle cries of orcs. She slowly drifted to a restless sleep, tucked inside her safe haven of a barrel.

Water – an abstract Molly Workman Gr. 5 Water can be filtered, but it must be filtered properly. Many people all over the world do not have clean and drinkable water. A lot of water has chemicals in it that cause sicknesses and even death.

Clean water can protect you when you are cooking and cleaning. My testable question is “Will the amount of fine sand in a filter effect how clean the water gets?” My hypothesis was that if I make the water filters with more fine sand, the water will come out cleaner because the dirt will not make it through the filter’s small spaces. Using a cotton ball, a plastic bottle, sand, and a few other materials, I designed filters including different amounts of fine sand. Then, I added all my materials to the filter and made the muddy water. The results supported my hypothesis. The larger amount of fine sand I added to the filters, the cleaner the water filtered out. My project is about helping people get clean and drinkable water. Clean water is needed and getting cleaner water can save lives.

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Wave Run – an excerpt Anne Marie Misrach Gr. 4 I was just finishing my lunch when I heard something outside. I looked out the window and I saw my mom’s friends the Berdens. They were in a boat at the end of my dock. Mom said that she invited them over to play. So, I put my swimsuit on. We swam to the water trampoline and once we got on it, I was shivering. The water was crazy cold. I felt like an ice cube. The boys and I talked for and little and after we got to know each other better, we tried to go down the slide. I was a little scared because it had been almost a year since I had been on the trampoline. The boys went down first but fell off the slide.

Next, I went down it I also fell off before I got to the bottom. We swam back to the dock, and I said, “Watch this!” as I climbed onto the back of my grandmas’ boat. It was a big boat and there was a ledge on the back. I was a little scared because it was up high. Then I JUMPED! What impact does the slope of a hill and the quantity of water moving down it have on the creation of a creek? – a science fair abstract Xavier Davis Gr. 5 Water forms the shape of the land by weathering soil and then depositing soil. It changes the landscape by making bigger or smaller hills or creating holes in the ground where it has been weathered.

My testable question is how long it takes for water to emerge through the hole (the lowest point) on different hill slope angles (15, 30, 45, 60). My hypothesis was, the higher the hill slopes, the faster the water would emerge through the hole. My materials were a Quickie bucket, 6 bags of soil, protractor, 1 plastic storage box, craft knife, cork, picnic table, and glass beverage dispenser with a button spigot. The procedure involved applying a fixed amount of water to different elevation slopes. Three tests were undertaken for each elevation to record the time it took for the water to find the lowest point and the effect on soil from the water flow. The result supported my hypothesis because when we tested 60 degrees it got to lower ground the quickest and caused the most soil erosion. The elevation of a slope has a significant impact on the way water travels and the damage to the soil. This is important for engineers when building structures to ensure these structures withstand water flow and its impact on soil, and when mitigating against landslide/mudslides.

When I Got Masha Tuula Hicks Gr. 3 My mommy and I were looking at dogs online. Then, we wrote our favorite dogs down on a piece of paper. Then we decided to get one. So, we went to the shelter, but the people were late. So, we had to wait for them. It took a little while, so we went to the store that was near it. We were still at the store when they came so when we came back, they had Marsha. So, I immediately I asked daddy, he said yes, I asked mom she said yes. It was the best day of my life. So, we brought her home. After playing we went to bed and that is how I got my dog.

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Which type of ball is most likely to hit closest to a bullseye when dropped from directly above it? – a science fair abstract Miles Friedman Gr. 5 When an object is dropped, the force of gravity pulls it down and drag force works against gravity.

The faster an object hits the ground when dropped from a constant height, the less time there is for sideways forces to act upon it. My question is: which type of ball is most likely to hit closest to a bullseye when dropped from directly above it? For balls of the same size but different weights the force of gravity should be greater for heavier balls than light ones, while the drag force should be the same, and for balls of the same weight but different size, drag forces will be higher for larger volume balls.

Because density is mass divided by volume, my hypothesis is that more dense balls will land closer to a target when dropped from directly above it. I dropped balls of different densities from the same height and measured how close to a target they first landed. Balls of greater density landed closer to their targets. Therefore, I concluded that my hypothesis was correct. However, the relationship between ball density and target accuracy is probably more complex because it does not appear to be a linear one. These results may be relevant to the design of sports balls, which may need to take straight paths when thrown.

Why Zaina Kamran Gr. 7 Insecurity, security, pain, love, depression, joy, sadness, laughter, anger, serenity.

Why are there synonyms and antonyms of such words; why are there different sides of emotion?

Why is it that you can sometimes only express cruel emotions and other times you can’t express emotions you long for your family to see?

Why didn’t I tell my family that they mean the world to me? Why didn’t I tell my mom that I love and appreciate all she has done for me? …

Why did I express my anger to my family; why did I scream at my siblings., why did I roll my eyes at my mom? Why? The emotions are gone. I’m being hauled into a SS truck that will lead me to my dark painful death... the concentration camp. I look around staring at faces that used to be filled with joy and radiant smiles. Now they’re just bone with no soul. No one has a soul not even the children all of us are DEAD. We may look alive, but we’re not; we have no more soul left all we have are organs and bones.

Why Guns? – a persuasive excerpt Tom Hobbins At first thought guns seem great, good for hunting, great for self-protection, and very good for overall patriotism. But is that really what we want? An incredibly easy way to get weapons that can kill with so little hurdles to get them. Some may say that people can handle them well, but can we really trust everyone who wants one? And, Modern day America is known for three things, beer, trucks, and most importantly guns, the thing that symbolizes America most is guns. “America loves their guns.” and that is not far from the truth.

School shootings are awful. In 2019, eight people were killed and 43 were injured in 25 shooting incidents that occurred on school grounds or during school-sponsored events. According to Education Weeks School Shooting Counter, the death and injury tolls are smaller than in 2018 when there were two mass school shootings, in Parkland, Fla., and Santa Fe, Texas. And these 2 years have had up to 100 people killed during school shootings due to easy gun access in America. The fact that France has the most school shootings in Europe, with5 school shootings, while here in America there have been upwards of 150 school shooting incidents, causing our lockdown drill to be almost only practiced here in the States.

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Why the Multiverse Exists – an excerpt Meghana Curran Gr. 7 Some people say that the multiverse is non-existent; those people need to consider the facts. The multiverse is an existent mathematical theory. The evidence exists, we just need to look into it. Once the theory of the multiverse is widely accepted, it will change the field of astrophysics. The multiverse exists because universes already exist, there are theories that support the multiverse, and parallel universes (which incorporate into multiverses) are already supported by most scientists.

The first reason that the multiverse exists is that universes themselves already exist. The universe is defined as “A region of space that we see” (Hunterer, paragraph 2). However, the area outside of our universe also has a name, which is the multiverse. The multiverse is “our universe and the area outside of it” (Hunterer, paragraph 2). This does not include other universes, however. The way to know if another universe exists is to collide it with one and survive (Nadis, paragraph 5). This would be done by being on the far edge of one’s own universe and avoiding the impact with the neighboring universe.

However, it is likely that this will not happen in a long time.

Why Schools Are Cheating Students Out of their Lunch – an excerpt Blake Hollenbeck Gr. 7 The last reason is academics because having a longer lunch helps it. Experts say, “[When] students eat healthier food, it is associated with improved executive functioning—working memory, and impulse control” (Prothero). l Thus reemphasizing the necessity of longer lunches. Principals should take this into account everywhere to help their students be better students.

There is no reason you can say having a long lunch is a dreadful thing. It helps students eat better and pick healthier foods. It is impossible to be mad about better nutrition. It also helps students be more social and talk more which impacts their social and mental health. Everyone needs a break from school and ultimately this helps academics. Studies have shown that students have better grades if they eat healthier and a person would have to really hate students if they tried to combat this. All principals should take this into account when planning lunches. Even if it takes a lot of money, it is worth it. It is undeniably clear based on the overwhelming evidence that having a longer lunch is beneficial and should exist in all schools.

Wish Item – an excerpt Claire Wiltshire Gr. 7 It was the day before my 13th birthday, and I was wondering what I would get tomorrow. Money. I thought. Hopefully, I would get some money to spend on Amazon. My phone dinged. A text from my mom read, “Bailey, where are you? You have been gone for a while. Are you at the Library? I can come pick you up?”

I looked at the clock on my phone and realized I had been gone for three hours. It was only a two-minute walk home, so I decided not to text her back. I was walking out of the Library when an older lady dropped her book. She did not seem to notice though because she had a lot of other books stuffed under her arm. I picked up the book and chased after the woman. She kept walking, and by now she was close to the front entrance.

“Excuse me!” I called after the woman. “Excuse me!!!”

She walked out of the door as I ran after her. I slammed into the door pushing it open. The scent of car exhaust and the restaurant next door filled my nose . I looked around, but she had vanished.

Breathing heavily, I looked down at the book in my hands. The words ‘O’Connors Guide to Irish Luck’ were scribbled on the front cover, like someone had done it in a hurry. Running my fingers over the cover, I noticed a slight indent right under the word Irish. Still out of breath, I dug my fingernail into the dent and heard a click.

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Wish Tree – a book review excerpt Jack Hendrix Gr. 6 My book is about a wish tree. Everyone in the town loves the wish tree. She is over 216 years old!

She is a Northern Red Oak which is a very common tree in North America. Her name is Red. She has a friend who is a bird named Bongo who is mischievous. There is one rule between all animals and trees and that is that you cannot speak to humans. She is a tree and trees are meant to be introverts but she’s not. She has a human she really likes, and the humans name is Samar. she is Red’s favorite human.

She was Red’s favorite human because she was quiet and respectful to nature, so nature respected her.

There is a boy across the street named Stephan. But since Samar is Muslim, her family is accepted by no one in the neighborhood. Not even Stephan accepted her at first.

One day a person leaves a sign on the tree telling Samar and her family to leave. Red and the wish tree are not happy because it really hurt to have that carved into her body. The owner of the tree, Francesca, decides the tree should be cut down. She decides this because the tree has been nothing but trouble to people.

Wolves Claudio Matos Gr. 4 Do you have a pet dog? How about a wolf? You might think that is a crazy question, but dogs and wolves are related. They are sort of like cousins. While having a dog as a pet might be fine, a pet wolf is a bad idea. First, wolves like to have a leader. This leader is called the “alpha male”. They are social animals and live in packs of between 2-15 wolves. The alpha male decides when and where to hunt. He also is the first to fight for and defend the pack. The pack also has an alpha female, so it’s like the pack has a king and queen. Wolves also mark their territory with urine and scat. The territory can cover 25-100 miles. This is not something that you want your pet to do. Wolves are crepuscular animals which means that they are most active at dawn and dusk. This is not as bad as if they were nocturnal but having a pet that wants to play and hunt when you are getting ready for bed seems like a bad idea.

Finally, wolves eat a lot. A wolf can survive on a few pounds of meat a day, but as an adult they can eat 20 pounds in one meal. That is a lot of steak. They are also carnivores, so they can’t be fed a bag of dog food. They are social, territorial animals. Their head and body shape are similar. They are carnivores.

They bark and growl. Many of the things that make a dog a good pet are traits that wolves have, but that doesn’t mean you should have a pet wolf.

You are Always There for Me Sebastien Cox Gr. 5 You are always there for me night and day I would pay for your love any day Mothers’ day is in the month of May And I cheer and say hurray My mom is the bomb I know from bomb.com My mom’s food is delicious it goes yum in my tum My mom is caring and loving I am glad her love is overcoming You are a super mom who saves the day by making my pain go away On Mother’s Day we all remember to say, I love you to the moon and back And have a very special day

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Artwork

Evelyn Paulsen, Gr. 3 Borui Xue, Gr. 3

Clea Sinno, Gr. 3

Priya Mullapudi, Gr. 3

Izze Montaque, Gr. 3

James Finkleman, Gr. 3 Vivie Kate Kinney, Gr. 3

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Gabby Chavez, Gr. 3

Benjamin Sprengard, Gr. 3

Wordworks

Anne Marie Misrach, Gr. 4

Evie Curt, Gr. 4

Claudio Matos, Gr. 4

Ava Boyer, Gr. 4 Charlie Jenkins, Gr. 4

Mabel Hartmann, Gr. 4

Isaac Lam, Gr. 4

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Stefen Karageorges, Gr. 4

Eileen Bolan, Gr. 4

The Summit Country Day School

Tyler Gier, Gr. 5

Manuel Cantillo, Gr. 5

Finley Chavez, Gr. 5

Lilly Yarnell, Gr. 5 Malcolm Moore, Gr. 5

John Trokan, Gr. 5 Huck Bortz, Gr. 5

Forrest Cloran, Gr. 5

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Mia Warden, Gr. 5

Wordworks

Audrey Beltran, Gr. 6

Wyatt Gockerman, Gr. 6 Kat Shuey, Gr. 6

Leah Berhanu, Gr. 6 Johnny Sumnar, Gr. 6

Wyatt Miller, Gr. 6

Tessa Dennemann, Gr. 6

Beatrice Nery, Gr. 6

Abby Bastos, Gr. 6

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Jackson Curt, Gr. 7

Callie Karageorges, Gr. 7

Callie Fox, Gr. 7

Ceci Viveros Valdepeña, Gr. 7

Sydney Brinkman & Zaina Kamran, Gr. 7

Ellen Love, Gr. 7 80