How

Class of 2016!

Many

Understand What

People...

Dear Young Writer,

August seems like a far-off time and place. I wanted you to share, with confidence, your writing with peers, teachers, and parents and feel a sense of pride at your accomplishments. I asked you to make writing an integral part of your life. Some of you have filled notebooks, 3 ring-binders, and flash drives with your writing. This anthology is the celebration of you as a writer. Yes, I can say with confidence, that you, the class of 2016, have discovered the writer within. It has not been easy, but anything worth doing takes persistence and dedication.

Learning is an important aspect of this class. Although some of you “disliked” the grammar and punctation, I hope that you have found rhetorical uses for both in your writing.

Along with learning punctuation and grammar, I hope you have learned the positive change writing creates within and within others. Please continue to grow and change in your life and your words. Don’t ever be discouraged or “give up” as a writer. Continue to practice and imagine.

These pieces reveal the sophistication, imagination, and dedication of the class of 2016. Change is part of life, and through your writing, I have discovered that many of you have gone through some significant life changes. Your writing also shows a concern about important societal issues. You and your classmates care about the well-being of others. And that makes me proud!

Three words greet you when you walk into the 8-3 pod area—competence, significance, and power. Please know that you have an enormous amount of power in your writing. You have the power to make someone feel significant. That is what you have done for me as a teacher. This class has given me faith in my teaching because, at times, I wonder if giving you choice of topics and genres is the best way to teach writing. But, when I read your words, listen to your conversations, and learn with you, I know I am doing the right thing. Thank you.

Have a wonderful summer, and know that you will always have a place in my heart!

Sincerely,

Mr. Loucks

About the Author...

Hi my name is Ryan Butler. I am 14 years old. I was born In Denver, Colorado in the Swedish hospital. One thing people always say they think is weird or unique about me is that I physically can't touch my shoulders (I think it’s because I have so much bicep muscle). I like to play Baseball and golf. I hope that next year I am good enough to make the golf team at Mountain Vista High School. I don't like school and reading I think they are both extremely boring. One book that has impacted my life would be The Magic Tree House especially the one where they went to the forest. This book helped me get over my fear of trees. “Just Kidding I just can’t think of any books that have impacted my life.” But I do think I will remember The Magic Tree House books 10 years from now because back in elementary thats all I would read because I liked them so much. One book that changed my view of the world would be Creature Of the Night. This book is about a teenager that is a huge trouble maker that smokes, does drugs, and even steals from his own mom. This book changed my view on the world because it really put things in perspective on how the world isn’t perfect and that not everyone has life just as easy as we do down here in Highlands Ranch. This year with Mr. Loucks has really helped me with my

reading and writing. Because he really gets his students and takes the time to go over things time and time again until people fully understand the concept. Or we go through and revise and edit our pieces 4 or 5 times until we think that they are perfect. With the new skills and techniques I learned this year I hope in the future that I will be able the write speeches or essays without even thinking twice about grammar or punctuation. I am scared next year for High School Language Arts I have no idea what

to expect and how good I will be able to apply my reading and writing skills to that class.

RYAN BUTLER

There'll be two dates on your tombstone And all your friends will read 'em But all that's gonna matter is that little dash between 'em...- Kevin Welch

I am The coolest kid in school everyone looks up to me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poetry and Short Work Page

SIX WORD STORIES

RUN, RUN YOU STILL

CANT HIDE

DREAMS CRUSHED,

HOPE LOST,WAR SUCKS

PULL THE TRIGGER,

LIFE GONE INSTANTLY

“BOOM” RANG THROUGH THE WHOLE

TOWN CloudsWhen the sun comes up there out to play

awake and mellow they start the dayFluffy white sheep way up high

floating, flashing right on bygracefully riding the heavenly breeze

they glide on with peaceful easebut when the day is nearly through

they are off and lost in the blue

By: Ryan Butler

Consequences Everyone who has ever read this novel (Touching Spirit Bear) probably will remember it for life, because this novel tells you that if you do wrong then you will have to face the consequences whatever they may be. And that in order to heal you have to accept that you were wrong and understand what you did. If you never accept that your wrong then you will always blame others for your wrongs then you will be carrying a grudge all your life, Like Cole did at first when he blamed Peter for turning him in and if he hadn't Cole wouldn't have beat him up. But later in the book Cole feels bad for what he did and wishes Peter is okay. He accepted that beating up Peter was wrong and so now he is starting to heal “I just realized i’m not a bad person. Nobody is, he said. People are just scared and do bad things” (201). This novel tells readers to never do wrong or they will have to face the consequences no matter haw severe they may be. Scars run deeper than just imperfections on the skin, not only if you do wrong do you not heal but what Cole did to Peter will scar Peter for life not just mentally but physically also. Cole hurt Peter so severely that he will probably never forgive Cole. So Cole will have to live with that for the rest of his life. Even though Cole regrets what he did he cant take it back that's why people need to always need to think before they do something. Everyone needs to stop and think about there future before they

ruin it before they know what there doing. Families are a huge part in a child's life, they bring them up and care for them. But memories go with kids forever and if a mother or father do something there not supposed to then that kid will probably do the same thing because he does not know any different. Like Cole his dad beat him up through the whole time when he was supposed to be caring for him. So now Cole is following in his dads foot steps and beating people up also.

My Response to Touching Spirit Bear

By: Ryan Butler

The old man

It was a Sunday night and outside the thunder was booming all around me. I walked over to my window gazing out in awe at the amazing sight. My eyes were glued to the sky but out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. I looked over and I saw a man hobbling down the street. I was terrified I didn’t know what to do. I threw open the window and jumped onto the roof! I crawled as fast as I possibly could off the roof. I got to the edge jumped down and ran. The old man was stumbling and grunting really loud. I got to him and grabbed his arm. He swung around in fright. I asked him if he was okay then I asked him where he was going. He replied in a crackly voice but i couldn't make out the words. He pulled his arm away but I would not leave. I followed him for a good 10 minutes until he turned and walked up a drive way. So I turned and went on toward home. Then a big boom of lightning hit to fast for me to react a tree came crashing down on me! Then I woke up it was just a dream. There was a terrible breeze coming in my window so I went to close it. But out of the corner of my eye I say something move...

My First Writing In 8th grade

About the Author... My name is Alexis Rose Clinger, but I just go by Lexi. I was born in Flagstaff, Arizona on July 8 1998. I’m a MMA Fighter, I train at Factory X Muay Thai with the best professional fighters in Colorado. My goals in life are to become a professional MMA Fighter in the UFC to make my fight family proud of me. I have two younger sisters and one little brother that are blood related to me. I have many people that I consider as family that aren't really related to me, but I love them as if they were my real family. I like to use my writing for funny, weird, and sometimes disturbing paragraphs to make people laugh here’s one small example. My name is Alexis Rose Clinger. I like long walks on the beach, swimming with baby dolphins, playing my acoustic guitar at my local Starbucks. I’m a part of P.E.T.A I love animals and would never harm them. I had a mental breakdown last year where I went on a Puppy, Kitten, and small children eating binge. I am now in rehab to stop my animal and cannibalistic habits and hope to be the first female president. The Song “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men has impacted my life because when I feel down and out it reminds me that there's always someone that loves me and is going what I’m going though. One of my favorite books is “Abraham Lincoln

Vampire Hunter” I like this book because it really brings me back into the old days, and how the government holds secrets from the people. My journey as a writer has continued to grow from the moment I knew how to write my ABC’s and forever more. I am excited to continue growing as a writer. I would someday like to write stories about people in other countries to show americans how different places are similar to our countries.

My biggest fear of growing up is that I won’t be successful in life and won’t be able to find a job. My greatest dream is to grow up and become a professional MMA fighter like all of my friends, another of my life goals is to become a personal trainer and go into sports medicine. As I grow as a writer I hope I can publish my poems and hopefully they will impact someone's life and make them like reading more. My goal for my whole life is to make an impact and have people remember me after I

This is when I broke my hand for the first time. Broke the forth bone or in other words ring finger.

These are two people who mean a lot to me their like my older siblings. (Jeremy Malatere left and Kayla Goyete on right)

Some up coming writing: VictoryBrake My BonesHeart of a WarriorTragedy Stricken in AmericaCorrupt Innocence

LEXI CLINGER

SIX WORD STORIES

READ, WRITE, DONE, SUMMER, FORGET, GONE.

RUN, SKIP, STOP, CRASH, HURT,

BROKEN.

NIGHT, PARTY, DRINK, BLACK, DRIVE, DEAD.

CRASH, PAIN, BROKEN, PLAY,

DOCTOR, TROUBLE.

Victory

My blood’s pumpingAdrenaline going up

My eyes go redIt’s hunting timeI see my target

I’m ready to launch and attackEvery time I close my eyes,I see what I have worked for

And I’m going to take itNothing and no one will get in my way

From my victoryI will never, ever let someone take my faith,

No one knows what I’m capable of,But when they do,

Well...Let’s just say they will be running in fear

I’m shaking My fist and legs are ready

KNOCKOUT!Never saw me coming

I am Alexis Clinger And I will never stop

Never quitYou better wait,

Because you will remember me as,One of the greatest fighters alive.

Brake My BonesSo much pain,Don’t cry, keep playingNo more adrenaline Eyes tear upDon’t say anythingYou’re fine, it’s only a little bent

Finally done

Eyes tear up moreAre you okay?Yeah I’m okay

Broken

Heart of a WarriorI have the heart of a lion,

The body of a girl,

The innocence of a child,

The courage of a warrior,

You will never stop me,

For even if you win,

The loss will make me stronger,

I will never quit,

I will never stop,

Because I have the heart of a warrior.

By Alexis Clinger! This was my first Fictional Story I did in 8th grade.

Tragedy Stricken In America

It was dark and scary. I was trapped, I could scream for hours and no one would hear my last screams before I would die. How did I get here? It was a normal day, I went to school, hung out with my friends. Never could have imagined that my day could go down hill this badly. After school, me and my boyfriend where hanging out, I started to look at his phone, I started to read his text messages to all these other girls. I was furious, when he came back I threw his phone as hard as I could at him. “YOU’RE SUCH A PIG!! WHERE DONE!!” then I stormed off. I wasn’t suppose to walk home alone and I knew that, but I was just so mad I couldn't stand it. I was hurt and in tears. I never saw it coming. A big black car pulled up next to me and before I even realized it two men where grabbing me and putting me into a car. I was terrified then, I felt a sharp pinch and I was out. I woke up had no clue where I was. I saw men with

sharp knifes and guns. I was going to die and no one would never know what happened to me or how I died. I tried screaming, they all just laughed. I was so scared, I screamed until I could no longer breathe. It was dark and scary. I was trapped, I could scream for hours and no one would hear my last screams before I would die.

DAILY NEWS JUNE 9, 2010

Thirteen year old, Dannie Smith was kid napped! Police are worried she may never be found again. She has been missing for about 3 weeks and they still have no found her. This is not the first case there has been with thirteen year old girls been kid napped. If you have any information please call (908)- 988-2238. Please bless Dannie where ever she is right now and pray for her safe return.

DAILY NEWS JULY 8, 2010 Police have sadly found Dannie Smith’s body, in an old wear house in downtown Denver. Anthropologists have studied the body to find out that she was beaten and tortured until, she finally

pasted away. Dannie Smith loss will never be forgotten in this heart broken community. Friends and family members don’t understand why she was walking alone, when she knew about the kidnappings, but that’s something that we will never find an answer to. God be with the small town of Hearthbrooke, and let Dannie’s name live on.

DAILY NEWS AUGUST 10, 2010

The Doctor Phill Show is being canceled! What are all the mom’s with horrible children going to do? They will no longer be paid to make up stupid things that their kids do and get paid! This is the greatest loss the world has ever seen! Maybe even bigger than 9/11! My peace be with you Doctor Phill, with you’re long journeys thought your life.!

Fictional Story: “Tragedy Stricken in America”

by Lexi Clinger

Corrupt Innocence

You made me feel small and innocent. Anytime we were together I felt as the world would pass right by us. You were my best friend, my protector, the one that always had my back. We would play outside all day, pretending to be superheros, spy's and many other role-plays. We would good down to the lake every day during the summer, and swim for hours. When it started to get dark we would go home and eat dinner. Then it was time for night games. Ben and all of our friends would meet in the middle of the street, and we would decide games to play. We would play hide-in go seek, kick the can, and many other childish games. Ben and I were the leaders of this group, the other kids in the group always wanted to hangout with us outside of night games. I don’t know why but Ben always said no. When I asked him why he simply said, “We are better than them. We work harder than them. And they don’t care about us at all...” I never really understood what you meant about that, but I had a feeling it was important. So we lived our normal life's, hanging out, playing games, and staying away from the other children on the street other than at night games.

One night we all where playing night games. Tonight we all decided to play hide-In go seek. The air was so cold it was chilling my lungs. I don’t have a good feeling about tonight, I don’t know why I was having this feeling but I just

couldn’t shake it. We all had been found, except for Ben. Everyone started to look for him. After about ten minutes I started to get scared. Then the worst thing that I could ever imagine happened. I heard a blood curdling scream, the sound was excruciatingly painful. I didn’t know where he was and he sounded like he was dieing.I ran as fast as my little legs could carry me to his house. Busted down the door and went screaming for his parents. His dad went outside to look for him, when there was no sign of him, they called the cops.

Now that you are gone, I have no idea who I am going to play all these games with. My heart has broken, hoping that what happened was a bad dream. You were so young, how could the world be so cruel. How could people be so sick and twisted. I never thought anything like that could happen to an innocent child. The cold bitter wind felt like it was freezing my bones, and the little pebbles of hail felt like rocks going into my head, it hurt but nothing compared to loosing him. I saw all of you’re other friends, and you’re family. I held my breathe as I walked up to you’re coffin. Seeing you lay there as white as snow, in you’re nice suit, was like a slap to the face, this isn’t a bad dream. My best friend was gone. Death is horrible and unforgiving. Everyone at the funeral sat down, no one said a word while the priest talked trying to reassure us he was in a better place. We all started to tell stories about his life. When it got to me, I suppose people

expected for me to have the best story out of everyone one since I knew him better than anyone, but when I stood up to talk so many emotions flooded me. Sadness, anger, rage and many other emotions. I tried to talk but nothing was coming out but tears.

When I finally pulled myself together I mumbled into the microphone, “I’m not going to stand up here and tell you all the great things that were in Ben’s life, because then I would be up here talking for days. Ben was my best friend, and I know that he would want me to say that he will always be here and watching over all of you, like a fallen angel. What happened to Ben was unimaginable. We all will miss him but we one day will meet him up there too, so don’t miss him too much, but always have him close to your heart. Thank you”. That’s the day I grew up and realized that not everything in this world is perfect.

Non-Fictional Story: “Corrupt Innocence”

About the Author... I am funny when not trying to be, helpful, and eccentric. These are 3 words that describe who I am. My favorite thing to do is cook. I am in 8th grade and moved from St. Louis Missouri to Colorado last year. I was born in Missouri and let’s just say moving is hard. It’s like starting over in a foreign country and not knowing anyone or half the time where you are. Well if I have to say something interesting about me it’s that I was born 1 pound 15 ounces and 3 months early. My twin sister Claire would beg to differ and say that I was close enough to 2 pounds. By the way don’t be surprised if she uses the same thing. What can I say, we are twins we think alike. So what do I like to do the list can go on forever. I like to !cook, swim ( the only sport I can do because I have no hand - eye), babysit, fish, hike, and ski. Now the things I dislike is pretty short list, sardines, pickled herring, and getting hit in the face. Finally, when I grow up I know I want to help people. I think I want to be a doctor, but I don’t know what kind. That’s me. Several books that have impacted my life are, The Giver, Follow My Leader, and The Hunger Games. These books changed me because they showed me that in order to get what you want sometimes you have to fight back. They also showed me that no matter what happens you need to get up and keep moving forward no matter what the circumstance is. I will remember these books 10 years from now

CARLYN CRITES because they have impacted me in a way that I can’t forget. As a writer I started out hating the whole thing. When I was younger I couldn’t stand the thought of writing something that I had no interest in. And then I had a writing and reading teacher in my elementary school. She showed me that writing can be so much more than you believe. My first story I actually liked writing was a story about a horse named licorice and he roamed the open west. As I got older I started to see the power of writing and how it can change someone's view or opinion on something. I saw how you can make someone feel what you are writing about and I enjoyed writing after that. As a writer I have learned to leave all the stories out there and don’t hold anything back because you have so much power with writing. Writing teaches you to have constrains yet let all your feelings show. With reading and writing in the future I hope that I can change someone's opinion on something or help them see the big picture. I’m not sure if I will be a writer when I grow up, but I just hope I can help someone in that sense. With my new skills I have learned this year plan to be in honors english for the rest of my high school years. I just hope that someone can see my writing as an opportunity to see the big picture rather than just black and white.

Poetry and Short Work SIX WORD STORIES?

WHAT DOOR WILL MY

KEY OPEN?

Two paths Which one to choose.

Stars: wishes we're not

sure about.

What’s the point, your not trying

Can you make something of nothing.

Pizza: healthy until you say so.

Moving is hardIt’s like turning your world upside downBut your more excited for your new adventureOnce you get there it’s differentThere is not a familiar face or friendJust people you don’t knowYou try to make friends but you keep going back to beforeYou tell yourself this should be easyAnd ask yourself why it’s notJust someone tell me whyYou text your friends, and think they forgot youBut they haven’tThey’re walking right beside you even when you don’t realize itYou ask about schoolThey say it is differentThe world is changing where you wereThere is nothing you can so about itYou wish you could go backBut you know you can’tYou try to forget and move on but you can’tIt’s a circle that never ends and is full of twists and turnsSome days you feel so lonely but others are filled amazing funYou enjoy every day and still go back to when you had it all going for youBut you realize you must go on and you doEventually you make friendsAnd you will cherish them just as beforeYour life will go on in new ways and better confidence than you had beforeJust live and keep on living you will make itWait until the right person comes along that will except you as a friend and reach out But remember you always have your friends you made before to fall back onAnd don’t forget thatYou can move on but still have old friends to tell things toEnjoy funny moments that you rememberYou can still listen to their advice they knew you better than most of your new friendsThey have your backTheir there when you need someone to talk to

!!! !But its not the same!!! People you can have sleepovers with and people who sit with you at the lunch table!!!! Things won’t ever be the same An soon they fade away like dust in your minds as they do the same with you.

Moving On

My FAVORITE

BASEBALL TEAM

GO CARDS!!!!

SMILE

By: Carlyn Crites

I sit there in the car. What’s going on I think, Brady’s what, gonna have to go see a neurosurgeon. Really, who’s brother gets hit with a baseball in the eye. Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t stand it anymore. In a nervous tone my mother says, “It’s gonna be alright.” Bryson is sitting right behind me totally unaware and oblivious of what is going on. Tears start to trickle down both our faces.

“Why does this have to happen to him,” I say.

“I don’t know,” my mother says? We both all of the sudden break down in the middle of driving to the hospital and I can’t seem to stop the stream of tears rolling down my face. I’m just so worried about Brady. ! Within seconds I call my cousin “Carlyn, you have got to be strong for your mom,” Madalyn says. Then I lose her, the mountains, they must have been too tall. Somehow her words seem to calm me and soon my tears are just a trail left behind. I just keep hoping and praying that he will be ok. Is he gonna be ok? That’s all I can think. Because I can’t think like that, what will that do for me or my mom. When we finally reached the hospital I grabbed everything in the car and we all charged to the hospital emergency entrance. It was so clean, I bet there wasn’t a germ in sight. As I start walking in, my mind was racing with all the possibilities. We had to get signed in by the police men and then we ask the nurse where Brady was. We went running. We reached the room with a halt.

My mom said, “Don’t scare him or be surprised.” As we

walked in we saw Brady he was covered up in his blanket mess and it was really dark. One look and you would know he was in a lot of pain. Brady had been hit in the eye by a baseball, my dad had been the only one there. All my dad heard was screaming and he went running. As his eye started to swell up he took him to the emergency room. His eye was so big and puffy like an inner-tube. I couldn’t even tell that was his eye. As usual my other brother Bryson tried to be all nice, but somehow still got on Brady’s nerves. Brady still had enough energy to yell at him. We waited and doctors still hadn’t come in. He wasn’t allowed to eat; he hadn’t eaten for several hours. !! Brady is really strong and can defiantly withstand a lot of pain. As the doctor finally came in he said that he had fractured his orbital bone and tested his eye with all these medical tools I hadn’t seen before. I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t crying anymore, because I sure would have been. ! That doctor left and said that, “ Brady will need to see several other doctors before he is clear.” That meant we were gonna have to be there for a long time. We waited several more hours for the neurosurgeon to show up and eventually he did. He made Brady cry because he kept touching his nose and his eye which were both fractured. Eventually they cleared him, but said that Brady may have to have surgery which scared us all.

We were waiting for news to see if he would be able to come to Hawaii. We were planning to go to Hawaii, and we asked if Brady could come.

The doctor said with no feelings, “If He were my son I wouldn’t put him on a plane.” That crushed us all because we were supposed to leave in two days which meant he wouldn’t be coming. The doctor explained he couldn’t come because if he flew a pocket of air would develop in his eye creating pressure and this could cause him to go blind. This was a real crusher to our family vacation, but I knew mom would do a lot with him at home. He had a ton of follow up appointments to see if he needed surgery. Later we found out that he would indeed need surgery on his retna because it was close to being detached. ! Brady was extremely strong through this whole process and never gave up. Now when, Brady hurts himself, like when he almost broke his finger on a bowling ball. We aren’t as scared and neither is he since he has had more painful experiences and now we know that he is likely to have another accident. The question is when will it happen again?

That’s all the News

by Carlyn Crites

I babysat two girls who were 8 and 12. Their mom and dad had been working a lot and they felt bad. They took them to the Apple store and let them pick out two new Ipads, their own cases, and a 25 dollar gift card for apps. On top of that they got a big air hockey table and a cruise. These were their Christmas gifts, but apparently they couldn't wait so their parents let them open them a week before Christmas. I was amazed by the parents willingness to give their kids everything imaginable to cover up for their overworked lives. After you start the train in this direction it goes through every generation and is extremely hard to stop. In the future there will be kids who just want more and more and can’t seem to fill that gaping hole that needs to be filled with love from their parents. Parents baby their kids because they are too busy and need to give their children some kind of love. What is this teaching your kids? ! Overworked parents give their children everything and that is ruining them. Giving kids what they want is the problem and is not preparing them to be good members of society. The issue with the parents is being overworked. Medicine net states, In 2000, Dan Kindlon, author of Too Much of a Good Thing, interviewed more than 1,000 parents, and roughly 650 teenagers, and found that 60% of parents thought their kids were spoiled. ! Parents are either too protective of their kids or spoil them too much. NPR says that parents are watching their kids every move from roommates in college to being hired at a job. Parents are over protective and prevent their kids from standing on their own two feet and becoming independent adults. This is effecting our society because the

kids will need to have their parents do everything. What about the overall effect? When you are gone what will they do? When kids out of college depend on their parents there is no way for them to be on their own and there is no reason for them to leave you. The kids will not be able to be self dependent and be unable to be reliable people as they get a job and grow up. There are some children who are taught that working hard pertains to good standards in life and happiness because they earned it, but there are some children who expect less of themselves because either way they will get something out of it. What else can that show your kids, but that they are entitled to everything.! ! Parents want to give children more than they had growing up, but the kids just spit in their faces and tell them that it’s not enough. All these parents are doing is setting their children up for failure by giving them everything and giving into their every woe. This is showing your kids that they are idols. I heard a story about this woman who just started a new job and was in her twenties, she started working and got loaded with work. She called in sick for the next couple days and her boss walked into Starbucks and saw her sipping her coffee. When her boss walked up to her and asked her if she was sick, she just said it was too much work and she needed a break. What did she think, her work would magically disappear? She obviously never worked hard for anything. Medicine net says, “With a greater consumer culture than ever before, more demanding academic and extracurricular requirements for children, longer work schedules for parents, less family time, and a generally more lenient society, many mothers and fathers feel more inclined to go easy on their kids.” In a nutshell, all you marshmallow parents can’t say no. Your kids will be unable to work hard for anything because the they have never had to.

Do parents really think that not being there for their kids and just giving their children gifts is going to help them? According to Scott Counseling, The result of this parenting philosophy often leads children to believe that items and privileges are rewarded just for existing. The article goes on to say Goals are often centered on the pursuit of happiness and pleasure. Children learn to expect their parents to demonstrate their love and gratitude by showering gifts and “fun times” as a means to gain a sense of family and community. In the world there are kids who think they deserve everything and want more. There are some kids who still work hard. Where did all those hard working kids go? All I see today is kids who expect the world and their parents try to reach it. The real problem is when you give your children everything how will they be able to change the world with no ambition. ! Giving your kids everything they want is making them unreliable for the future, and showing them that the you will protect them and keep them safe from the danger of something called real work.

Step Up and take Charge

About the Author...My name is Shawna Elizabeth Doughten. I was born in South Korea in a city called Seoul. I am half Korean and half American. I was given an American name but I also have a korean name used by only Korean friends and family. My Korean name is “Uen bee.”

I take after both American and Asian lifestyle. I take after Asian lifestyle because I play a musical instrument. My passion is music. I play the violin and have been playing for 5 years now. I take it very serious and try my best. I am 1st chair for both my private lesson and school orchestra and I plan on playing in the Chambers Orchestra in High School.

I take after American lifestyle because I play a sport. My sport is competitive swimming. I have hour and a half long practices in the water and and other hour and a half long practices out of water which is what us swimmers call “Dry Land” plus i have swim meets Saturday during the summer.

My family is quite confusing. I have three sisters and one brother. My three sisters are not related to me, they are my step sisters and my brother is only partially related to me because he is only my half brother. This is because my parents are divorced. My dad lives in oklahoma with my little

My friends and I are dorks. We don’t care what people think of us, all we wanna do is live life to the fullest.

Breaking Benjamin is one of my favorite bands to listen to. Most people do not expect me to listen to this type of rock alternative music because of how I dress and act and my personality.

Parents Fault? or Kids Fault?

Sledding

No more

Life

Stopped and Changed

SHAWNA

brother and one of my sisters. And my mom lives here in Colorado with my other two sisters.

Poetry and Short Work PageSIX WORD

STORIES?

Fat,Skinny,Happy,Sad: Teenage Girl.

Desert? Mom gives me Weight Watchers Yogurt.

The cold air fills her as she patiently waits outside in the cold night.She sits and waits for the screaming to stop.SLAM!She knew it was over.Only the silence could calm her.

She only hopes it will all stop.But only fate can control that.She begs.She begs for a way out.But the way out is to her death.She starts to think.Then cry.STOP.All she wants is for it to stop.But in time it only gets worse. She is scarred for life.She will never be the same.CHANGED.And she doesn't know if she could ever go back to what she believed in.She continues her life, scared, worried, depressed.

Legs pumpingLungs filling

Eyes tearing

Arms stiffeningHands clenchingMind explodingRain pouring

Night consumingNo turing backNo more

Heart aching

It is terrible It is

pleasurableIt has

freedom It has no freedom

It is beautiful

It is believable It is life.

By:Shay Doughten

On January 23 2012, A Denver mother named Kimberly Jacobs was charged as an accessory to her 21-year-old daughters Hit-and-Run because she refused to tell the police about the incident. Her daughter, Taylor Mathis, had hit two pedestrians at East of Colfax Avenue and Ogden street. One in two of the people that were hit were seriously injured.

I do not understand why parents think it is right to defend there children from consequences because of a bad decision there child did. By defending your child from taking responsibility for there actions the child will never learn wrong from right. If your child were to decide to do something bad and you defend them, they will depend on you to defend them all the time when they decide to make another wrong decisions. Your child will never grow up learning the basic concepts of life. Also, your child will think that it is okay to make that decision again when really it is very wrong.

If I was a mother I would definitely discipline my child if they chose to make a wrong choice. I would not defend my child no matter what the situation was. If my child stole from a store I would let her/him go to jail, and I wouldn't bail them out until they thought about what they did. If my child decided to sneak-out of the house I would ground them from all there privileges for as long as necessary. If my child killed any human or animal I would call them police on my own child if had to. By making your kids take responsibility for there actions they will know the wrong

and rights of life and they will grow up successfully.

Jacobs knew her daughter had hit the two pedestrians but refused to provide information to the police about either the location or the vehicle of the Hit-And-Run. 43 year-old Kimberly Jacobs was charged as a felony and was arrested in Aurora but was released on a $10,000 bond. If Mrs Jacobs had given the police information on what her daughter had done there would have been a lot more good then bad in the situation. First of all, Mrs Jacobs wouldn’t have gotten arrested, which means she wouldn’t have had to pay $10,000 dollars to get out of jail. Also, Her daughter would have learned her lesson better and would have had a good influence in her life (such as her mother) to tell and show her that what she did was wrong. Last of all, Mrs Jacobs wouldn’t have been all over the Internet and the news, Which means her friends, family and other strangers would not have been enraged about what she did and who she is.

October 23, 2011,my sisters, and my sisters boyfriend and I all decided we would get in the back of my sisters boyfriends truck and throw pumpkins out the back of the truck around our neighborhood. We all thought it was just a fun joke, but it wasn’t. We ended up getting the police called on us one minute after we got home from smashing pumpkins. The police spread us out across the sidewalk and searched some of us for anything illegal. What we thought was a fun joke turned into a serious situation of whether I was going to go to a Juvenile Center or not

all at the age of 13. I was terrified, not just terrified, but scared of what my punishment was when my parents got home. My parents took the situation well, we all got a lecture on how our decision was wrong. My sisters and I were grounded for a couple weeks, including the day of Halloween which we were all planning on going to parties. Because of my parents I have learned that what I did was very wrong and I will never do it again. If my parents were to defend me and not punish me I would have done it again and probably would have eventually ended up in a Juvenile center, where the rest of my life would have been ruined do to a stupid mistake I made when I was 13. I am thankful that my parents punished me, that way I can take responsibility for my actions and learn from my mistakes.

Disciplining your kids may seem wrong, but its not. Its called tough love, and many parents don't know how to apply that to there children. Kids will never learn if you baby them around for all there childhood life. Tough love may be tough, but by punishing your children for the bad decisions they make, it shows that you truly care and love your children. If you don't teach your kids right from wrong its showing them that you don't care if they grow up unsuccessful. It shows that you could care less about them and what they do. Show your children what tough love is and raise them the way you want them to grow up. Raise them with love and intelligence.

! ! ! Parents Fault? Or Kids Fault?

The weather was so terrible it felt like tiny pebbles hitting our face. My Body hurt. The wind whipped threw our hair, the snow was blowing on our face, nothing could stop us from speeding down the long white hill. The thought of a hospital raced threw our minds as if it was a natural instinct. “ Someones going to end up breaking something” I thought to myself as adrenalin rushed threw my body. All we could think about was what was going threw our minds when we decided to sled down this hill in such horrible weather and with no people around. Our screams seemed like they could have been mistaken for a horror film. We were in fear of what would happen when we got to the end of the hill. At the same time, we were also pumped and excited that we were racing down the hill as if we were in the Olympics. “ How is it even possible to go this fast!” I said in my head as we started getting closer to the end. Next thing we knew we were starring at the sky partially laying on each other in pain and exhilaration.

While starring into the sky, all the sudden laughter filled the cold air just as if a public speaker was speaking in a small dark quiet room. Our voice echoed over what seemed to be the whole entire world. ”HOLY CRAP!” I shouted in excitement. “ I thought we were gonna die!” Peyton screamed in fear. “Lets do it again!” Mallory exclaimed. Nothing could beat the fun andexcitement of what we had just done, it felt like our life wasfinally complete. Making that phone call at 9 am in the

morning to go sledding was a great decision. The hills were just calling our names to have us sled, A snow day calls for a sledding day no matter how much of a stupid idea it was.

After we flew down the hill a few more times we decided it was to cold and miserable to keep sledding. We began walking to Mallory’s house in exhaustion and shock. “It was the best day of sledding ever!” I thought to my self as i tugged on the sled. “But what horrible weather to be in!” I began shouting in my head. The walk to Mallory’s house was horrible, our legs felt as if someone had tied a rope to them and was pulling on the rope. What was only 10 min seemed to be 10 hours! Finally we had reached her house in exhaustion, we entered in and began taring off the heavy layer of clothes. “Hot Coco!” Peyton yelled. We sprinted in desperation toward the kitchen waiting to pour warm Coco down our cold dry throat’s. Chocolate powder was scatter everywhere as if it had snowed chocolate powder in the kitchen. 20 min later we were sitting at the table downing Coco. It was delicious.“ I have an idea!” Mallory said as she jumped off her chair. “Like?” Peyton replied. “ Wii?!” she said in a tiny voice. “Omg yes!” I screamed in enjoyment. We raced down stairs to her basement as if we were being chased by a Bull. Mallory leaped her tiny legs over the couch and pressed the little ON button and turned on the T.V. We all grabbed a remote and started whacking the remote as if we were actually playing tennis. I was so into the game sweat started slowly

falling down my face, I couldn’t believe how hard it was playing against Peyton and Mallory.

Finally we decided to turn it off because we were getting to tired and worn out. It was getting late and we were worn out from all the exercise we had done that day. one by one we began calling our parents to pick us up so that we could go home and sleep and relax. My legs ached. Cramped. Stung. I was screaming on the inside to go home and lay down. My dad had arrived and I had said my goodbyes to Mallory, Peyton and the wonderful day. On the way home I thought to myself how much of a great day it was and what an experience i would remember for the rest of my life. It was truly such an awesome day and now such and awesome memory that I could keep for the rest of my life. Forever.

SleddingSledding

About the Author...He was born in Littleton, CO in

the Littleton hospital. He is a good friend, falls out of chairs, can trip over flat surfaces, creative, tries to be fare, has great ideas, and rarely speaks. He likes to play soccer, read, draw, play games (video and board) watch movies, science, landscaping, and the outdoors. Jacob doesn’t like writing (for a long time) computer games, playing football, learning history, a lot of work, and rich snobs. He hopes that soon all war will end and peace will take over, or his more realistic hope; that the entire world will go green.

The books that have impacted Jacobs’s life are Where the Red Fern Grows, The Giver, Among the Hidden, and somewhat Touching Spirit Bear. Books that he will remember 10 years from now are Where the Red Fern Grows, the Harry Potter series, City of Ember, The Giver, and Among the Hidden. Books that have changed his view on the world are Where the red Fern Grows, The Giver, and Among the Hidden.

In Jacob’s journey as a writer he has learned what comma splices are, the difference between independent and dependent clauses, and other Language Arts terms. He has also learned how to be more creative with his writing and use fancier words like instead of big, use ginormous. He learned where and how to use things like similes and metaphors too.

Things that Jacob used to do and are making lots of mistakes with writing and not being able to think of what to to for a piece. What he does now are making less mistakes, can now think of ideas better, and find spots that are good for things like similes and metaphors.

What he may accomplish with his reading, writing, and thinking skills are he will become faster at reading, will be able to write for longer periods of time, and will be able to write without getting writer’s block. He may impact the world by changing the minds

of people to possibly go green or at least save forests from being cut down. On society he may change their minds to helping to go green and clean up trash on the street and recycle.

One of Jacob’s favorite pictures of rare weather occasions.

Jacob likes to be green so most of his writing will mention some plant. He also likes weather too.

JACOB GREGORIO

Poetry and Short WorkSIX WORD

STORIES90 MILES PER HOUR, MAN WINING.

Green green. Yellow. Black black. Pink.

Sitting under tree. Apple falls. Idea!

Messy floors, no light, dense canopy.

EarthRound and spherical

Green, blue, and whiteThe earth is where we live

And it’s best at night

It divides into peace and natureAlong with violence and warWe can all love and share

But we can always be hurt and sore

It’s a place where disasters happenBut we can’t go back in timeTo save the ones we loved

It’s such a terrible crime

Its atmosphere at nightSo black and dark

Millions of bright twinkling starsFill the night once it starts

Round and sphericalGreen, white, and blue

The earth is where we liveAnd yes it is true

I LOVE SCIENCE!!!

By Jacob Gregorio• • •

THIS IS ACTUALLY A TRUE STORY THAT HAPPENED IN THE SUMMER OF 2011.

It was dark and stormy outside. My family and I are watching part one of the seventh Harry Potter. On the screen there was a scene with a lightning storm in the background and the rumbling thunder coming from up in the sky blended in with the movie. The sound coming from the movie made it hard to hear if there was a strong wind, but could definitely tell the camera like flashes apart from Harry Potter. At points it sounded as though the entire thunder storm fell on top of the house and bright flashes shown through the window. All the strikes of lightning seemed to be coming from every where. There would be a low rumbling soon fallowed by a loud crackling and then maybe a bang. We couldn’t hear the roaring down pour of rain but we knew it was there crashing into the ground. I don’t know how long into the movie we were, but the storm was getting even more intense. Every now and then I would look toward the window. The blinds were down. I couldn't see anything, they were down before the movie but I look anyway. There was a small flash. I look back to the movie. It wasn’t that interesting considering we’ve had the severe thunder storms all this week so far and the previous week. We were a little over half way or more through the movie. CRACK!!! At the same time a bright electric blue flash shown through all the windows and blinded me for a split second. My family nearly jumped out of their skins except for me. All I could see was the bright blue until the light disappeared. It sounded as though a nuclear bomb went off. The strike looked and sounded like it came from just up the street, the way we were facing. We had ignored it and we were still watching the movie. After the movie, we started to clean up. Forgotten all about the

enormous strike, we were moving about putting dishes away and all that. My mom told me to take the trash out and so I did. I opened the garage and was getting near the trash can when I noticed some of my neighbors standing in my neighbor Sue’s front lawn. They were staring at her tree. My friend saw me and came running towards me yelling “Look at what happened to Sue’s tree!”

I looked with curiosity and saw the unbelievable. The bark appeared to be peeled like a banana. I looked around and all over the cul de sac were pieces of bark every where. Sue wasn’t out because she was out of town. There were Christmas lights on the tree but I didn’t know why. Some of the Christmas lights were missing and were stranded on the damp, wet grass. The lights were completely fried. I then started toward my house, went inside, and partially yelled with a mix of excitement and concern, “I know where the strike happened!”.

We all came out to look. I looked up through the branches as my friend’s dad told the rest of my family what happened. I listened too. Apparently he and his family had just gotten home from shopping. He was unloading the car when he looked around and saw the lightning bolt appeared out of thin air. “The bark was illuminated and bent into a globe just before exploding,” he explained. As I look through the branches, I noticed the lower branch was badly cracked and its leaves looked like they hadn’t had any water for a few days. That must have been the main target. More people from an other street came over to see what was going on. Some touched the tree and had a look of disgust on their faces. My friend and I did the same. It felt like it was bleeding, in fact it was bleeding, bleeding sticky sap. The sap was only thick enough to be a little bit sticky. I looked closer at the tree’s trunk. It was cracked all the way down about through the middle. My friend told me that his sister was about to go over and feed Sue’s cat, but the strike stopped her.

About 45 minutes later we started to go back in. I though, wanted to stay out because I love thunder storms. My mom told me that it was too dangerous but the storm had pretty much already passed. I looked up for the first time that night. The thunder clouds were now in east Colorado. I saw the paparazzi in the clouds and heard their rumbling voices. I stayed out for a little while watching the storm run away from the crime it had committed. Every now and then I would see an explosion from the war in the clouds far out in the distance. Sometimes I could even hear the bang that came afterwards. Earlier that night it was explained that the tree would soon die because it won’t get its nutrients to the leaves. With the bark completely peeled off it will die. I imagined no tree in her yard any more. It just wasn’t the same with no ash tree there and none of its shade. This wasn’t the tallest tree either. There were a few taller ones, especially behind my house a cottonwood tree stood proud and strong, and killing our grass. Soon the storm disappeared from view and I went in. An other storm, but less intense, came rolling over head to cause more destruction. Before I went to bed, I cracked open the window to listen to the storm’s bass drum roll, and watch its spectacular firework show of just blue that went along with it. Then I fell asleep to the music of thunder. Later that week, I heard that a tree had been struck by lightning in our cul de sac near 12 years ago. And about six years later my driveway was struck. I still remember that day, staring out my window at the light show in the sky, then CRACK!!! I jumped back as the bright blinding light hit me and heard my sister screaming for mom. And just earlier this week about six years later was another attack upon the cul de sac. All these strikes about the same distance apart, maybe in about another six years will be another attack, but for now, its just the third lightning strike.

The Third Lightning Strike

By Jacob Gregorio• • •

I WROTE THIS FOR A COMMENTARY BECAUSE FORESTS ARE BEING CUT DOWN.

What comes to mind when you think of rain forests? Most likely rain, dense trees, leaf covered grounds, animals, humidity, bazaar plants? How about the air we breathe and almost extinct animals and plants? Rain forests, like the Amazon, are being cut away at every year, but does anyone care about them and I mean just the everyday life people. Some people say that the Amazon is not in danger while others say it is in danger of being destroyed. Now in my opinion I say its not that much in danger but it is in danger, but I do say that all the animals in the rain forests are in danger. We cut down bits of forests to make more land for us to build cities and towns, but what about the animals who built their homes in the forests? They have homes too and their homes are inside the forests. My favorite animal is now an endangered because of this. Clearing down the trees makes it easier to see them so hunters hunt them down.

Plus, there are so many rare, undiscovered and bazaar plants, animals and other creatures. We may never see these animals, plants, and creatures again. There are also still many undiscovered living things out there too that may never be discovered. Now I don’t know about anyone else, but I would love to know what new creatures and things like that there are. I don’t want the Amazon destroyed because that way we can discover cool new creatures/plants. Does any one have any feeling for animals that are being killed? All of these creatures have feelings too, we just don’t understand them, so put yourself in their place and imagine how you would feel if someone was destroying your kind. The amazon is nature that we can not afford to be destroyed, or we will cause all these animals/plants to die and the rare and undiscovered too.

We need to help these creatures survive and get their homes back, we need to save the Amazon from being destroyed. This ecosystem will be destroyed with out our help. This is a piece of nature that we can’t let be destroyed, or

everything within will be gone forever. Sure there is still plenty of the Amazon left but if we don’t start now, it may never be saved. Plus let me remind you that chopping away at trees or plants is going to hurt us. We depend on that rain forest and all other forests to breathe, without them we can’t, there will be too little left that we will use all that oxygen up. Trees and plants are also living things, so I say that killing those is also homicide just that its not a human or an animal, its a plant/tree so you don’t get charged for it. Either way, we need to save the Amazon from destruction, so we can enjoy the beauty it brings us. Don’t forget the creatures that live in it too, they will either be without a home or die within. This, is what we should and need to be saving, the wondrous world of the Amazon.

Amazon

PEYTON JOSEPH! <3Peyton Mykale Joseph, that was the name I was given September 27, 1997. I was born at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Colorado, were I would live my child hood. A very interesting detail of my life would be that my eyes change color not just from green to light green, I mean they could change from green to blue to a dark hazel color. Another weird thing is that I had to get emergency surgery and could have died and the same hospital I was born. I love soccer with all my heart, I have every since I was about 3, since I started playing and I also really like football and basketball, I don't really like sushi with meat. I really hope for in the future people could see past the skin color. A book that has extremely impacted me was A Long Walk Home. It really drew me into it, I have to admit I cried while reading it, it gave me as the reader a lot of emotion and made me really look at my life in such a fortunate way. 10 years from now I will probably still be referring people to that book.

Looking back to when I learned how to write a sentence till now, were 500 words is barely anything. I’ve learned how to combine sentence and make them flow so that I could have a really long sentence, but as someone read it they would be shocked at how much it flowed. I have also gotten better at getting my punctuation in the right places, when somebody thinks of

My team Real Colorado National! <3

punctuation they think of periods, commas, and exclamation points, which is not even close to all that there is. Overall I have actually really enjoyed learning about writing and how I could be better because I want to be a better writer.

I’m kind of nervous going into honors english, just because I know I’m going to have to work hard. In the end I will be so proud of myself that I had completed honors english, and how proud my parents would be. With my thinking skills it

will defiantly help me in the future, I will need to be able to think on the spot if I want to be a sports photographer, or a physical therapist. I will have to have my writing skills if I want to go anywhere in life, unless I want to flip burgers at Burger King. My main goal in life is to make people happy and make a foot print in the world. I don't want just my family to know who I am, I want to leave the world knowing people will know and hopefully think of me as more then a human being.

This is a picture of me and my two best friends, Lexi and Shawna. This shows how how were not clam or boring, we are all wild, crazy, and loud. We don't care. Me (middle), Lexi (Left), and Shawna (right).

Ive always

been a wild

child :)

POEMS

MY TEAMThis year we will go farWe will be the bestWe will be the strongestWe will be the team

Six Word Poems!_________________

Field. Sprint. Tackle. Win. Ice bath.

_________________

Angry text. Reread. Regret.

_________________

Streaking. Naked

run. Tackled.

Embarrassment._________________

Text a </3. Get

back :).

I started off as a little girlThen to a little girl who thought she was a big girlThat little girl thinking she was a big girl then turned into an actual

big girlAnd here I am today thinking I am still the little girl who thought she

was a big girlImagine that

The truthThe terrible things we do to be perfectWe want freedom from this We doBut the guilt of simply living and having freedomMakes freedom less pleasurable then it should beSo let us live in this festival of our normal livesOr at least what we think is normal

by Peyton Joseph

10590 Mountain Vista RidgeHighlands Ranch, CO 80126 September 28, 2011

The Harrison Herald1560 BroadwayHarrison, NH 78654

Dear Mrs. Shepard:

All staff and factuality know that the “I (heart) boobies...(for breast cancer)” bracelets aren't allowed in school. This, to me, is completely ridiculous for many reasons. The bracelets are not sending a bad message and if you know the cause 99.9% of people would think there is no problem wearing it. I am also aware that some parents are on the schools side, although I don’t understand why I’m sure they have a good reason. Even if they don't want their children to be exposed to the bracelets

their kids don't have to be influenced by the people that do wear the bracelets. And when people are friends they most likely share the same point of view and interests, so I’m almost positive if one friends parent is over protective then the other friend might be the same.

Some people think the bracelets are just to be “cool” or some dumb teenagers made the up for laughs, but that isn't what they are about. The bracelet are actually a fundraiser for breast cancer, and just because they caught on doesn't mean that they are bad. When adults think this I take it personally because my close aunt had to fight against breast cancer, luckily she won and I want everyone who has to fight against this ugly disease, to win. The thing I don't understand is what is wrong with the “I (heart) boobies...(for

breast cancer)”? Is it because it says “boobies” on it? Well they could have made bracelets that said, “I (heart) breast...(for breast cancer)” But the Susan G. Komen fund already has a lot of things for breast cancer, so making something different and that they knew was going to catch on was the purpose of the bracelets.

So, give me three good reasons why students are not allowed to wear the “I (heart) boobies...(for breast cancer)” bracelets and you may not say policy or its the rules because the word boobies isn't a profanity. The way I take it is your saying that we, the students, can’t wear a bracelets that is a raising money for a serious disease and we are sending out a bad message. But really the message is that we support the fighting of breast cancer, last time I checked there is nothing

I (HEART) BOOBIES BRACELETS

Just See Past the Boobies

by Peyton Joseph

From the moment I was born, my sister was my idol, I knew whatever she did something that was what I wanted to. Because of our 6 ! year age difference, I aways wanted to catch up to her and try to grow up as fast as I could. As the years started to go by, I was realizing I was growing up faster then I ever knew possible.

In pre-school, I had a best friend named Alexander and we were inseparable. We would always get in trouble during class for messing around and talking, but we didn't care as long as we were having fun together. At recess time we would sprint, like two cheetahs fighting for prey, just to be the first two people outside so we could take the play cars, turn them upside down and poke our heads out the top. Everyday after school we would go to each others houses, switching every other day, he would come to my rec. soccer games and I would go to his rec. soccer games. But unfortunately, by the time we were almost done with pre-school he moved to another school. From then on out, our play dates got way more spread apart as did we, then before either of us knew it we weren't seeing each other at all. Till this day, I always think about what it would have been like if me and Alexander were still friends.

When I was a little kid, I fell in love with soccer and was so excited to try out

for a competitive team, Real National exactly. Then, before I knew it, I was in the car driving to the fields. I was horrified and really nervous I was talking to my sister and she told me her little saying your amazing, don't be nervous, your courageous, don't be scared, everything will work out to be as great as you are, while she was saying to words I thought to myself of how big of a supports system I had. Standing at the field, where I had to perform my best in front of coaches, who I had never seen or heard of ever in my life. I distinctly remember standing in front of field 1. I was so nervous, more then I have ever been before. All the sound around me tuned out and it was as if I was the only person at the field. The only sound my ears could grasp onto was the sound of my own heart beat, when I finally snapped back into it I knew I had to drop what ever was holding me back and go out there and do my best. When I stopped over thinking it and just played I was so excited, hoping and praying that later that night i would get a call back saying, “Congratulations! You have made Real National!” Then that fantasy turned into a reality that same night!

On September 12th 2011 i got a really big scare. I had been having this weird pain in my stomach, but not the stomach ache pain, the hurting pain. For two weeks I had this feeling and in this two weeks I played soccer, had gym class, and even long boarding for 2

hours! Then one night I awoke as if I had just gotten hit by a bus, I called my home phone and when my mom answered I said weepingly, “Mom can you and dad please come here?” Then my mom and dad rushed into my bedroom asking what was wrong I pointed toward my stomach where it was hurting, then I said I really need to go to a doctor in the most empowering voice I had. On September 13th my mom took me to the doctors office, my doctor ordered my mom to take me to the Kiser in Denver. I remember waiting for the results of the Cat Scan thinking they would just come back and say oh you just pulled a muscle or two, but no when the nurse came back she informed us I had an appendicitis. I immediately broke down, I had never had a major surgery before so i was terrified and called my sister crying. Trying to hold back the tears i told her what was going to happen, she told me, again, your amazing, don't be nervous, your courageous, don't be scared, everything will work out to be as great as you are. So with that I went in knowing everything would be OK and then it was done and i was fine, just like she told me. I love her so much she helps me get threw any and everything, I might even love her a little more then chocolate.

There it goes...

About Sarah... Go Detroit! Born in Detroit, Michigan, Sarah Lissek is an intelligent and hardworking girl. I love to dance! I have been dancing for about 7 or 8 years because I get to work with a team and I get to learn cool tricks. I also love watching my brother playing soccer and spending time with family and friends. Baking and cooking is a fun hobby for me and I love coming up with new designs for cakes and making new recipes. Traveling is really fun for me because it is cool to go to other places and see what their lifestyle is like and the unique things that make that place what it is. !I hope to become a stronger writer and to grow more as a dancer.!!!

Some books that have impacted my life are The Giver, The Hunger Games, and My Life in Pink and Green. A book that I will remember 10 years from now is The Hunger Games because of the word choice and the way that the author could paint a good picture in your head. The Giver has changed my view of the world because it proved to me that utopias can’t exist because everyone is special and unique.

As a writer I have learned about writing formats and word choice, but I have also learned a lot about myself and the way I can take my rough draft of a topic and then turn it into an amazing piece of writing. My journey as a writer has been very good. I can take an idea and transform it into a great piece of writing. Then that piece of writing can show people that I know how to stay on topic or I know how to use good word choice.

With my new reading, writing, and thinking skills, I hope to write better papers and read more challenging books. I hope my impact on society and on the world is to have people know the writing skills that I have. I hope to also show I can persuade people with my writing. So I hope that you, as a reader, enjoy the pieces that I have shared with you!

This is a picture of me skiing on the slopes of Keystone in 2010!

This is a picture of me and my family! All dressed up!

SARAH LISSEK

Poetry Page!SHORT

STORIES?* Once upon a dream, is

now reality.

* You have to be a true princess to kiss the frog.

* BLACKOUT! You flutter your eyes open and you try to comprehend what happened

* You walk over a dime not caring. The next day the dime is gone and you look on the news to see the dime saved a man’s life. Now he is a millionaire.

A DANCER’S DREAMThe point of the toe, the !ick of the hand"We are all built strong, and we are winners in our land

We practice and practice, for November 5th to comeAnd as we practice, we all realize that the hardest part has just begun

We work and work, executing every skill and trick that comes in our danceBreathing harder and harder Showing performance and spark, and when we go to competition, we make our mark

The months go by and we get excited and proud, we dance as a team "And listen for the crowd

We arrive at competition, wearing sparkly costumes and showing our Peak prideThe competition is tough, but we know we will survive

Execution was amazing on our hand of course, we have #nished our show and we know the time has comeFor awards, and there is nothing that can be done

We sit in a circle, hand in handWe don’t want to hear our name till the very endIt is time

There are two teams left, in our heads we know were the bestThen we jump up and down loving what we hear and everyone starts to cheer

We are all excited as can be""Because the Peak Athletics Bobcats won #rst place happily!

by Sarah Lissek• • •

THIS PIECE OF WRITING IS THE CHALLENGES OF THE BUDGET CUTS FROM A STUDENT’S POINT OF VIEW. I HOPE YOU ENJOY!With thirty six million dollars, what would you buy: Clothes, jewelry, electronics, food? What about education? Thirty six million dollars is the amount of money that DCSD had to cut from its budget .

Now DCSD schools are struggling.

This isn’t a dragon that we can kill with pretty bake sales or yummy candy fundraisers. We can’t even fix it by charging $2.00 everyday for every student that rides a bus to school and back home once the school day is over. No fundraiser is a match for this dragon.

As an 8th grade middle school student, it is hard to fight this dragon without a sword. Since we are the people that are directly taking part in our education everyday, we don’t have a say with what goes on for our education. We as students all know that things are going to change that we can’t control. Talented and dedicated teachers are losing their jobs and students are sad about seeing some of our favorite teachers go. The schools keep some of these amazing teachers around because the State of Colorado provides each school a per pupil funding of around $7,000. This doesn’t help completely, but DCSD schools need all the money that they can get.

Another problem is the budget cuts are causing all kinds of problems for families: parents and students. Parents now have to pay more money because of the bus ride instead of the educational opportunities, which is the main reason we go on field trips. They also have to contribute more to fun activities that we have in the pod. When there was CSAP testing, I remember that during elementary school, there would be enough snacks for every student and then there would sometimes be a lot of extras. Now this has changed because parents have to bring in food or supplies for things that go on. I think students should try to get more involved so we can have the power to raise money for our schools.

I know first hand how to start to fix this problem because I want to help my cousin, Hayley Stromberg, overcome the challenges of budget cuts. Hayley is also an 8th grade student at Ranch View Middle school. She wrote a letter and recently presented it to the DCSD school board. She was also on the news for her outstanding work to resolve the problem of these budget cuts. We are talking about getting more students involved and trying to make our education less of a money problem. We are thinking about telling the students that are the role models for each school. For MRMS, it would be our outstanding RAM leaders (I am one myself) to tell kids about what we are going through and how to resolve all of this. We are ready for the challenge to slay this dragon.

When the budget cuts come to mind, I always ask myself, “Will these budget cuts go away?” My own response to that is I hope that they will go away so that we can focus on our school work. Education is the primary reason that we are at school instead of worrying about the teachers or the money in the schools and cutting down sports events or other activities like fine arts. I also hope that budget cuts won’t come back if they go away. If they do come back I think that a lot more students will get involved with this problem because we have experienced it before.

Another question is “Will the school board and schools really work on cutting down class sizes?” I think they will work on that because I have heard a lot of students talk about how their classes have 32 or 37 students in them and then others might have 28. I know that there are about 32 kids in my Spanish class and I think there are about 28 in the other class period, so even though its 4 more students, it seems harder to ask a question.

Hopefully we can change this bad trend by getting more students involved. It would change the way we look at our education, and we would value it a lot more. We as students have an impact on this too because it is our teachers that are amazing at what they do. So we need to stand up and fight this dragon together because we can’t do it as individuals.

Money vs. Education

by Sarah Lissek• • •

THIS PIECE OF WRITING IS ABOUT MY BROTHER AND HOW AMAZING HE IS. WE BOTH SUPPORT EACH OTHER AND THIS IS A LOOK INTO OUR TIMES AS BROTHER AND SISTER! ENJOY!

My brother has always been a huge part of my life. He has always supported and helped me in anything and everything that I do... And with his support, I succeed. Even though we are six years apart we find so many ways to get along. We love to mess around with our dad and spend fun times with our mom. When he is cranky in the mornings I am usually the one that puts a smile on his face, and I am proud of that.

When we do something together it is usually goofy or silly and we have so much fun. My brother, Jacob, and I have done things that usually a 19 year old brother wouldn’t do with his 13 year old sister. About 2 or 3 years ago, I was practicing for a dance competition when

he came into the room, sat down next to my Ipod and changed the song to “Roller Coaster” by RH Chili Peppers. I looked at him and he just stood up and started dancing. I was laughing so hard because he had an idea that we should make up a special dance routine. So we made one up, dressed up in look-alike t-shirts, and showed our mom and dad. It was so much fun and to see the smile on his face made me so happy.

Even though he is away at college, we connect over text, phone call, and the one that we use the most is Skype. The other nigh, I needed help on a math problem. We were already Skyping with him so I decided to ask him if he could help me. He gave me a big smile and said sure! So I read him the problem and he figured it out, but then walked me through it, step by step on how he solved it. The help that

he gave me made me happy because I know now that I can always ask him for anything that comes in my way.

Even though he is far away, I will always love him with all of my heart and when he comes home it is a wonderful celebration.

My Big Brother

Hi my name is Bearett Long. I was born in Denver, Colorado although I wish it was San Francisco! I am the biggest 49ers fan you will ever meet in colorado at least. I wake up every morning for one reason.... football!!!

Captain Sully Sullenberger his book highest duty made a real difference in my life. It changed my view as a pilot a passenger and a civilian. While Reading I realized there is two things to concentrate on while flying an aircraft and that is flying and having fun!!!!

In the future I'm going to try to apply my writing to my life to share the experiences that I've had with the people who will actually read my writing!! Although I realize when I apply it I need to remember to take it where its showing not telling a point I’m trying to get to and it's not an autobiography. One thing I would love to apply would be god my religious life is something I would like to share with the world and show how much he cares for me and my family and everyone on this planet!

The thing that scares me the most is losing a family member in 2011-2012 I lost my great uncle and my uncle this put not only great pressure on my but my family as well my grandfather lost his brother and his son it was far more significant to him than to me but it was a very significant event in my family. I could not live my life if I lost my brother or sister. When I leave home after high school I will have to

remember that god will keep track of them and watch for out for them and keep them safe.

When I write my stories always have a purpose and when the purpose is meaningful and applies to my life at that time its incredible how its like a key to open a door or the last piece in in a jigsaw puzzle.

TRACK Mitch Anderson, Paxton Smith, Bearett Long, and Javier are...ALL TRACK, ALL THE TIME friends.

This is a list of most the things I do in my life. I am athletic and have time for video games and family too

BEARETT LONG

Poetry and Short Work PageSIX WORD

STORIES?WHISKY VODKA BEER FRIDAY NIGHT REPEAT

KID NEW IPHONE IGNORES PARENTS REALITY

LIVE LIFE YOU ONLY GET ONE

BORN, HIGH, SCHOOL WELL OK ,DEATH

DON'T FOLLOW BUT BE A LEADER

WOW SIX WORDS IS ACTUALLY DIFFICULT.

NOT PLAY TIME; ITS WAR TIME

IT’S MY LIFE, SO GET OUT

IT’S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL

DON’T GET MARRIED BE A BACHELOR

Me , Myself ,and I

I am a bright shinning star and the sun in the skyI wonder what its like to blast into spaceI hear the crickets sigh as the sun starts to setI see the flying needle glistening in the ocean beyond the skyI want to be the one breaking through the sky blasting the stars into a million pieces

I pretend that I am on earth living a normal lifeI feel the pierce as the creatures rocket into my territoryI touch the heat as the flying needle screams byI worry someday the needle might hit me and blow me into a billion tiny piecesI cry when my friends start to die

I understand that I will never be the sameI dream I could be with a family in the giant blue ballI say someday I will die but for nowI am the bright shinning star and the sun in the ocean beyond the sky

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by Bearett Long

Life has meaning

feeling of having an older brother is something I know know is the greatest felling a person can ever have. John and

When you meet a friend, you don't realize what they could be enhancing to your life. Friends are a key part in making you who you are. Those times you spend together could be the most exciting but unforgettable in your life time. Every moment of every day the times you spend with friends could be the greatest feeling you ever experience. During the experience Ifound my “older brother” John Garretson.

Hi John, whats up? nothing good day huh? Yea! I have a question. So I asked John to help me learn a life long lesson. It’s good. It’s fun.can you teach me to ride a bike? . Yea sure! So he ran to his house and got his bike as I went and got mine. As I walked into my garage my flame orange bike was jumping with joy as I grabbed it andtook it out in the street, and found john waiting in the street for me. That day my neighbor Morgan up the street was having a lemonade stand with cookies! So John said “if you do this in the next hour I will get you a cookie and lemonade.” Being five years old that sounded very convincing. so I said OK. First I watched john ride his bike to get a mental picture of what I was supposed to do. After that john goes now you try I said OK with an energetic flare in my voice and jumped on the bike screaming to be rode. I got going but then fell over. I got back up got going then fell over I think its do to lack of speed. I felt so incompetent so I said“John I need help” ; He replied OK well don't slow down keep pedaling. So he grabbed the underside of the bike seat and shoved me off and I kept pedaling and sure enough I started riding a bike with no training wheels! Then John said lets see if you can do it again. I tried with out John pushing me. And I fell over! I swear this time I just didn't hit the

pedals! I told John I needed to go the bathroom so I went in my house instead of going to the bathroom I was hitting a wall infuriated so after I finished practically breaking my hand I went out side and he gave me the Look. You know the look that basically means what the heck where you doing in there. Being five I didn't understand that so with out any thought Jumped on my flame orange bike (I called it scoop) don't know why and started to peddle I fell over again this time I don't know why! I was so mad but then I asked John what he did when I got that one out of the thousand tries to get going and he said he pushed me. So I asked him to do it again. I did it I found my key!so this time I pushed my self really hard with my foot and I did it!! I finally rode a bike. John then asked me the question of eternity do it again to prove you know it. I did I rode that bike hard and nothing could stand in my way except for some ice but it was July. This meant so much to me I always saw the big kids ridding their bikes and I always got so jealous and now I can ride with them. The piece that meant the most was riding my bike with john to get the five year old Nobel prize. And I did do it in something like 45 minutes. So in the end I got the lemonade and a warm chocolate chip cookie. Although it was July the cookie was soothing like hot cocoa on a snow day!Friends are something you can always rely on but the people who are like family you can trust forever. Now sitting here eight years later I know how much it means to have a brother. I have a younger brother and I know how much it means to him when I hang out with him. John is my older brother and Having the I may not be related but he still is a Friend a great friend my older brother. When you meet a friend you have know Idea how much they will be enhancing you life and changing you into the person you are today and will be forever. Thank you John for being my brother.

Life has meaning

by Bearett Long

! ! ! ! ! !! A long time ago in a grassy land far far away. There was a dragon its name was jason. jason was a very friendly dragon and his favorite thing to do was scare all the gusts as they came into the park. Because of this the park owner was very confused that he was at such a loss for money. The month before he had jason he was making it big along with henry gates and ryan buffet. So he went on an adventure to figure out why he could not make anymore money. As the days went by he started to get frustrated and go insane all thanks to jason. Wednesday 18,3012OMG I cant figure out why i cant make money! So i’m going to call henry I last talked to him before this happened. Ring ring ring. “ hello can i help you?” “yes i’m looking for henry? may I talk to him?” “i’m sorry to tell you but he died this is dolby.” I inherited all his money and fortune.” “How did he die?” he was stabbed in the parking lot of chickfila on sunday morning.” “what!?!?!? how it was sunday and they aren't even open. “ “ well i’m not god so i don't what to do man!” “Ok chill bro all i have to say is this. he sold me a dragon and kills all the guests as they come in.”“Oh you mean jason!” “yes”“I sold him to you” ok well come get him.” ‘sorry man I cant do that your problem now sucker!”ugh..............Man i need to KILL jason. But i cant do that i sent so much money on him I need to go see henrys lawyer. Hi i’m bdog and i need to sell back jason.“the dragon?’” “yea!”cant . why? because some one stole him and sold it you apparently. Then he was killed. Uh.........i know how killed him and stole the dragon.

Who!!! Dolby the escaped prisoner for Alcatraz he was murdering guards left and wright now he's coming for ryan buffet and and then me. I’ll go get the cops and get him. NO you don't want to do that he’s a wicked runner he out runs death. Are you quoting harry potter? maybe...... anyways we have to catch him and i Know how.first we have to set up a spot where we can trap him well wait for him to come to my park and kill me well set up a dummy and will have him ready to kill and bang cops are there. Bingo thats greatsaturday 21,3012We’ve set the trap and now where ready to go so when he walks in well slam the door and hell be trapped and not able to exit.you guy’s come in behind me to cuff him and take him to prison. Here he comes! hide! stab, stab, stab!!! KEEP YOUR HAND WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM!!!!gosh dang it i knew i should have gone yesterday. any last words dolby?yea why did that dragon die? It did? NOW IT DID!!! he threw a knife right into the chest snap! it died good by jason.

THE END

Jason the dragon

About the Author...Brandon Minnihan was born in Littleton, Colorado. He believes in never changing yourself to fit into the crowd. He enjoys Cross-country running, skiing, reading, traveling, history, and hanging out with friends. He dislikes homework, staying in one place for too long. and negativity. He hopes that one day he will be in a profession that allows him to travel the world and to see most of the landmarks.

A book that has really impacted my life is The Ranger’s Apprentice, a book series I read in 5th through 6th grade. This book series sparked my passion for not only the middle ages, but for all kinds of history. Books I will remember 10 years from now include The Ranger’s Apprentice, The Hunger Games, Singularity, The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd, The House of the Scorpion, and The Giver. Books that have changed my view of the world are The Giver and The House of the Scorpion. These books made me look at society to see the similarities and differences between real life civilization and the society and life in the books.

I have learned as a writer that expressing your feelings and beliefs on paper can really have an effect on you as a person. My old styles were just stating facts and facts with no real opinions, thinking people think that my writing was good. Now I write with my opinions in full speed, not leaving a single word I feel should be in the piece of writing left out. I believe insightful statements is what makes your writing good, not facts you found on the internet. In the

future I hope that I can do what I’m happy doing and what I want to be doing. I fear that I may not end up in the fields I hope to end up in the future. The things I will accomplish with my new writing skills after this year is not only getting “A”s in my classes but make an impact on the people around me with my writing. I hope that my writing may have an impact on the world.

One of my favorite nature sites in the world, the African Bush.

This is one of my favorite quotes from Morgan Freeman about doing what you love to do no matter if you get paid well or not.

Featured Writing:

Poetry and Short Work........................page 2

After 7 Years..........page 3

Helpless Victims....page 4

BRANDON MINNIHAN

Poetry and Short WorkSIX WORD

STORIESCAR CRASH; ONE REMNANT: BEER BOTTLE.

WAR NEVER CHANGES, ONLY WEAPONS CHANGE.

GARAGE SALE; LOW PRICE: USED CANE

POEMS

Space

Floating through the still void

Light of stars shimmering upon you

Icy comets pass you by

Welcome to the peaceful void

Space

In the grassy fields

Tall yellow blades dominate the land

Breezes shift the land itself

Blades bow to feet upon it

Stand up once again

In the grassy fields

In the CityPeople rushing to

get to workCar lights flashingtowering buildingcutting the clouds

The city aliveIn the City

by Brandon Minnihan• • •

THIS IS A NARRATIVE DEPICTING MY LAST DAY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

It was probably one of the best days of my life. It was a warm summer day and the weather couldn’t have been better. I woke up and got ready, not sure if this was going to be fun or not, and went. It was our 6th grade graduation. Finally I was escaping the school I’d regarded as a prison for seven years. When we got there, everyone was gathering by the swing set and a metal roof held up by four pillars we called the shade structure. Since some people hadn’t arrived yet, my friends and I were swinging on the swings. After nearly an hour of waiting, the last person arrived. By then it was almost 10:00 AM and the sun was beating down upon us. Some parents brought out pizza. It wasn’t great pizza but it was better than what they serve at lunch. While we messed around the swings after eating our fill of pizza, another parent brought out popsicles. Some classmates were able to grab two popsicles before other got even one. This didn’t upset anyone because the day just couldn’t be ruined. After the popsicles and fair amount of more messing around, It was time for the graduation ceremony.

Our parents along with the class piled into the gym to meet our teacher. The chairs were already set up and at the front were 18 chairs for the class. As we sat anxiously waiting for it to start, our teacher started the ceremony. The process was Mr. Dahm, our teacher, to describe the qualities of a student and then call out their name. After a few downfalls from excitement when he didn’t call my name, I was very hopeful for this one. “This student is a very loyal friend. He’s always there for his friends and helps them out when he can,” I had no idea who he was talking about this time. I was hopeful that it was me so that I can stop being so afraid that he says something bad about me. “Brandon,”

Mr. Dahm finally said after a dramatic pause. He shook my hand and gave me a certificate. That’s all I remember from what he said about me. We knew there were a few students he had trouble finding good things about, but he managed. After our teacher shed a few tears, knowing he would never see us again after being out teacher for two years, we went outside the gym. It was on the side of the school and had a few pine trees with rocks around the sidewalk. There was three or so picnic tables there. Then came the cake. I’ve never been very fond of cake, being to sweet it makes my stomach hurt. I ate a piece regardless because I’d seem like a downer if I didn’t. As all the proud parents came out to take pictures with their prized graduates of elementary school, we finished our cake. After mingling with each other for a few more minutes, it was time to go. It wasn’t over yet.

We went home for maybe 30 minutes before hopping back into our cars and heading off to Jumpstreet. Some people carpooled to Jumpstreet. About half our class made it. My friends and I payed for the race thing and hid down inside the canyon below the summit of the bouncy race thing. We eventually got bored of scaring little kids and hopped out. After jumping around on the trampolines, we decided it was time. Most of the class gathered up and went into the court for some dodgeball. It was like a battlefield. Rock hard leather balls flying through the air. When you get hit in the face, it feels like they threw a slap right at you, except twice the force. They had what looked like a 17 year old guy in the opposing team. We got destroyed by him. We were able to take out a few of their younger teammates. Eventually we all got bored of being hit by the 17 year old. One of the girls got hit in the face by the old teenager. She cried for almost 30 minutes. Classmates started leaving. After all my friends left I decided to leave also. As I sat down on my couch

back at home, I started to think about those seven years I spent in that school. I had mixed feelings because I didn’t know what middle school would be like but I was sure it would be better. I don’t know if others enjoyed that day as much as I did, but I will regard that day as one of the best days of my life.

After 7 Years

A picture of My elementary school, Summit view

by Brandon Minnihan• • •

THIS IS A COMMENTARY AGAINST ANIMAL CRUELTY Animal cruelty is an issue I believe should be taken care of better. Roughly 85% of all domesticated dogs in the U.S.A. are being abused in one from or another. I put it above the drugs, crimes, politics, and most other issues in the Unites States. It is a growing issue with underground organizations that participate in dog fights and chicken fighting. There is also the animal abuse that is not as apparent. I have had dogs in my family my whole life. They are innocent and just want to be loved. A loyal dog would live with you happily in a tent. Animals cannot defend themselves from abuse or speak up against neglect. We need to learn how to identify the abuse and how to stop it efficiently. There is animal cruelty going on beyond the chicken fights and dog fights. Even though chickens can live for more than a decade, after about two years their egg production starts to wane. Over 100 million “spent” hens are slaughtered every year. Mother pigs, who account for almost 6 million pigs in the U.S., spend most of their lives in small crates. These crates are 7 feet long and 2 feet wide, not even enough space for them to turn around. Also, even in bullfighting, a sport that you would think that the people are the ones getting hurt, your very wrong. Every year about 10,000 bulls die in bullfighting. If you have a comfy fox fur coat, your wearing the lives of 18 red foxes killed to make that coat. Millions of day-old male chicks are killed every year in a high speed grinder called a “macerator” because they are useless to the egg industry. Many animals are used in testing household products on their eyes or skin. Sometimes the chemicals are even pumped into their stomachs or airways, sometimes causing them severe injuries. Many of the chemicals put into the animals’ eyes make them become blind or cause them severe irritation and bleeding.You may think “they’re just animals” but I doubt that you would think it was fair if you were stuck in a

crate for your whole life, killed because you can’t work as fast anymore, thrown into a giant meat grinder because you can’t complete a job, or killed to make a coat. There is also the obvious animal abuse, such as dog and chicken fighting, which is called active animal cruelty. This includes purposefully inflicting pain on an animal through actions. There is also passive animal cruelty. This is when, for example, if you owned a dog and you didn’t feed it or if your animal had an injury and you didn’t seek out help for it. The cruelty is caused by not taking any action towards your animal, or in others words, through neglect. Dog fighting is illegal in all 50 states. Often other animals are sacrificed, such as cats, rabbits, or small dogs. These are often stolen pets obtained though “free to good home” advertisements. That could have been a family that loved their dog but no longer could afford to support it. They thought their pet would have been in a nice home with a loving family but really they’re going to be eaten by brainwashed death-dogs. During dog fights, people bet thousands of dollars on who they think will win in their fights. Games usually are around 1 hour but often extend past 2 hours. It continues until one dog is unable or unwilling to continue fight. There are even homicides because of dog fights. Sometimes, even children are brought to the games so they can become insensitive to violence and learn not to respect animals or the law. Just look at Micheal Vick. He never once admitted he was sorry for the lives of innocent animals he threw away. In one instance, he even slammed a dog on the ground to death. In many circuses the wild or exotic animals are abused to make them learn their act. Former circus employees report that they have seen the animals whipped, beaten, poked with sharp objects, or even burned to make them learn the routine. Every year 3 to 4 million perfectly healthy cats and dogs are euthanized. Animal neglect happens a lot in puppy mills, where one mother dog is used to have many puppies. The mother dog spends their entire life in a cage because the owner only has here so she can has puppies so the owner can

sell them. The puppies can be neglected also because there are so many of them in the puppy mill.

I feel the other issues in America, though important can wait. Animal cruelty though, in any form, is a problem that we should address better and deal with more efficiently. I believe this issue should be focused on more instead of just a few thousand officers dealing with it across America. Although I will never truly understand why people abuse animals, I know that it is a sick thing and people will always fight animal abuse and the people behind it. Organizations like PETA, ASPCA, NAVS, and IDA are trying to make a difference. I truly hope I live to see the day animals are treated as equals instead as the lesser being some people see them as today.

Helpless Victims

About the Author...Hayley Elizabeth Mustin was !born on a hot summer day in Jacksonville, Mississippi in 1998. She went on to live in North Carolina before settling with her family in Colorado in 2002. Hayley Mustin is a !fun, kind-hearted eighth grade student !at Mountain Ridge Middle School. She !currently lives with her parents and two older brothers in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. !Hayley enjoys playing sports and spending time with her friends and family. When she’s not at home, she can be found on the soccer field, or running with the cross country team. She also enjoys playing with her adorable silky terrier, Rocky. Hayley has always had an interest in crafts and decorating, and one day hopes to become an interior designer after graduating from college.

Many books have impacted her life, but, !So far from the Bamboo Grove has had the biggest influence. It is about a Japanese family who goes through some tough times during the World War II. !The story really made Hayley appreciate what a great life she has !living in Highlands Ranch. Another book that Hayley will remember for the rest of her life is Marley and Me. Because Hayley had a similar experience with a pet who died, she really connected to the characters in the book

Raised by a father who is a journalist and a mother who is a writer, Hayley understands how important it is to be able to have strong writing skills. Over the past year, Hayley’s writing has improved in several ways. Her grammar,

mechanics and spelling have become more accurate. She has recently found her own unique voice in her writing. She has also learned to organize her thoughts and get her view point across in a more precise manner. Hayley has experimented with the new types of genres and writing pieces over the past few years including commentary. She learned by writing this that there is a difference between persuading someone to do something and giving an opinion on something.

She plans !to one day use her writing in the interior design world. Hayley hopes to use her persuasive writing skills to sell

people on her ideas and convince potential clients to hire her. She would also like to have a blog one day that could be used to show her clients how to incorporate good design ideas into their homes. Hayley believes that creating a warm and inviting home helps improve the quality of one’s life. Her dream is to become the best interior designer she can be and to share her creativity with the world.

Hayley Mustin

PoetryLife is a delightThinkBelieveLife is beautifulIt’s a festival of happinessDon’t think about the terrible, think about the joy

Six Word StoriesWake up. School. Night. Sleep. Repeat

Live laugh love, enjoy your lifeLive your life to the fullest

Nervous, anxious, normal, sad, happy, repeatDefeat is a metaphor for life

By: Hayley Mustin• • •

AN EXPERIENCE AS A CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER!Nerves are building up. My heart is pounding. The sun is beating down. I’ve been training for months and I am in the best shape of my life, but I still get butterflies. Everyone is quiet as we wait for the whistle. “Runners take your mark, Get set, GO!” Instinctively my legs start moving. I always have a strong start at the beginning. I see my biggest obstacle on the course. I have to run over the hill. I conquer the hill.

The next thing on my mind is catching up to the girl in front of me. My teammates encourage me which makes me run faster. !I’m beginning to get tired. It’s really hot outside and my legs are aching. I just try to focus on my arms or whatever else doesn’t hurt. !I keep thinking to

myself that I can do it. I want to stop but I’ll never let down my teammates.

Only a half a mile left. The race is almost over so I pick up my pace. I pass a girl on the way down the hill. I see the finish line. It looks so close I !can taste it, but its actually far away.

One last hill to conquer and I know that I can do it. Parents and coaches are cheering for me. !Although the hill looks short it is a lot steeper then it appears. I feel as if I'm running in place and cannot reach the destination. I made it.

I’m in the final stretch! Only three hundred meters on the track left. I start to pick up the pace. When I get on the straightaway I sprint because I know I'm almost almost home. I run through the finish shoot and pick up my card. Its a great feeling to come in second place

and beat a bunch of boys, but I know my goal is to win, so I will keep trying. Keep running. Keep pushing. Until i’m number one.

By: Hayley Mustin

• • •

THIS IS A STORY ABOUT THE TIME MY FAMILY WENT TO DISNEY WORLDI was sitting in my beach house with my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles getting ready for my brother,Tyler, and I to open our birthday presents. Little did we know that my grandparents would give us the surprise of a lifetime. I remember when all of us were opening the box, we were all thinking great we got a book. Then, when we finally saw what the actual book was we all started screaming “We’re going to Disney World, we are going to Disney world!”!!! !!! In December, the day after Christmas, we met my cousins and grandparents in Orlando, Florida. When we arrived people were standing there waiting to greet us with leis. We all stayed at the gorgeous Polynesian Hotel. The next morning, we got up bright and early and went to get breakfast at the hotel. I decided to try the Mickey shaped waffles. From that point on I had them every morning. After Breakfast we went to the Magic Kingdom. Some of my favorite rides there were: Space Mountain, Thunder Railroad and Pirates of the Caribbean, but my all time favorite is Splash mountain- I love the big drop at the end. When we were finished doing all the rides, we went to dinner at the Crystal Palace. They had delicious food and great waiters. Our waiter was a man named Al. He had a great sense of humor. After dinner we went back to the hotel and swam for a little bit. It was an exhausting day, but a lot of fun. By the time we were finished swimming, I was so tired I fell asleep.!!! !The next day, we went to Epcot. It was a lot of fun. I loved riding the Space Pavilion. On that ride you are in a UFO shaped cart you reach incredible speeds while spinning very fast. I also loved the ride inside the Epcot tower. It was slow, but really cool. My favorite part of the day there was when we

got to watch fireworks late at night at the top of Epcot. It was great.

Next came the animal kingdom. I absolutely loved going to this particular park. We saw all kind of animals. We went on a two separate safaris, and saw a bunch of animals. One of the safaris was in the water and one of them was in a little car. The guy driving the boat told some really funny jokes the whole time. !The guy driving the car was also really funny but at the same time he taught me a lot about animals and what living conditions under which the animals need !to survive. I also really loved riding the Indiana Jones ride. it was so cool how they made the robotic dinosaurs able to move and walk around. That still look realistic. That night we had dinner at a restaurant in the Animal Kingdom. It was really different from other restaurants because the tables and chairs where shaped like animals. My family had a turtle shaped table. The food there was really good.

Our second to last day in Orlando, Florida we went to MGM. MGM, or Metro Goldwyn Mayer, was also a lot of fun. The whole theme for the park is Hollywood movie magic. This park looks just like Hollywood. My family did a ton of rides. My favorite one was the Great Movie Ride. The Great Movie Ride was a ride where you are on a boat and you go into different tunnels. Inside the tunnels, there were wax people acting out scenes from different old Disney movies. The dinner that day was the best part. We ate at the famous “Hollywood Vine and Dine”Restaurant. !It was like you were at a drive in movie. The tables where inside retro cars and there was a movie playing in front of you. Also, some of the food you could order from the menu is based off of famous movie stars’ favorite food. I had pizza. It was so good, even though it was just pizza.

The last day we were in Florida we just went in the wave pool in our hotel, did some shopping and relaxed. Sadly, early the next morning we got on a plane and flew back home

to Colorado. I had a blast on my trip and hope to go back to Disney World again in the future.

Disney World: A trip of a lifetime...

Someone once said, “I want you to write about yourself.” So here I am, sitting in front of a laptop, writing about myself. I was born in Northern California, although I moved as a baby I love Cali more than any other place in the world. After all you can take the girl out of California, but you can’t take the California out of the girl. I have one brother and he basically means the world to me, even though I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know that. Sometimes though I wish he wasn’t so frank. Other than that being a Christian is first in my life, then family, then friends. Point blank.

Books play an important role because when I read really amazing books I get lost in them, and even if nothing good is going on in the book, it makes me want to be in it. I know that I will most likely remember The Outsiders 10 years from now. Mostly because I like the style of the book and the types of people in it. In that book when someone has a problem they take care of it, they don’t go and talk behind the person’s back.

Writing is super important in my life, but I don’t write stories, I write poetry. The thing about making me write is that it’s not going to work. I have to write about something important to me or something that I feel.

Now I’m supposed to talk about my hopes for my life and what my dreams are and what my impact on society will hopefully be. Well I’ll start with my hopes; I hope that at the end of the day my family knows that I love them no matter what. And I hope that I’m not one of those girls who is fake or has friends that don’t even like being my friend. I guess that my dream would to grow up and follow the path that’s planned for my life, wherever it takes me. My dream would be to have an amazing life and be able to smile when I look back at my life.

EMILY NATWICK

That’s me in San Diego with my friends. It was so much fun! (I’m the one second

from the left)

Hopefully my impact on society is a good one, and that the people who remember me remember me as a nice person or at least as someone who isn’t afraid to say what’s on their mind. I know that I can do great things and if you read this and think it sounds stupid or cheesey or whatever, I just thought I’d let you know that no one on this Earth has the right to judge me.

SIX WORD STORIES

Swag’s for boys. Class; for

men.

You changed; where are

you now?

Understanding isn’t the

same as agreeing.

World’s still spinning, my

heart stopped.

Good life? Funny joke,

nothing’s good.

Music is laughter for the

soul.

Once upon a time,there was a princess with flawless beauty,she was perfect in every way,the the prince comes along,and they lived happily ever after,that’s how the story always goes,but that sucks,because I don’t live in a story book,or in a land far, far away,so I’m not a perfect pretty princess,and no “prince charming” is going to come along, I’m not going to have a fairy tale life,But in the end I’m still hoping for theHappily Ever After

Poetry

You say “Yeah, yeah, I know,”No, you don’t know,You don’t know that I think your a great person,You don’t know that your the person I come to when I’m in trouble,You don’t know that when I’m sad all I want is to talk to you,You don’t know that I wish I could be like you and have the confidence that you do,You don’t know that if you did leave that cold January night, that I would have been right behind you,No, you really don’t know

You laugh at us because we are different, You talk behind our backs because you don't understand, You think that the way we look defines who we are, Yeah, you don't get it I laugh because you are all the same, I talk to my friends because they know who I really am, I think that all of your assumptions show your true colors, Yeah, you don’t get it

• • •

"The opportunity to learn about the arts and to preform as artists is an essential part of a well-rounded curriculum and complete education." This statement speaks to me because I believe that without educational theatre I would not be who I am today. Two years ago I was transitioning from elementary school to middle school which was really hard. I did not have many friends and I was timid. Coming into a new school and having to make basically all new friends was tough. I had an opportunity to join my school’s thespian troupe. I did, and that was a great turning point for me. It helped me gain new friends and confidence in myself. I preformed on stage, in front of judges and people I didn’t know. Now if you told me that I could do that at the beginning of that year, I wouldn’t have believed you.

Being a part of a theatre program in school is so useful for a ton of things. For me I know that I have a second family like a home away from home, which I would not have without theatre class. Theatre classes give you skills that you need in life like: public speaking skills, good eye contact when you talk, and it helps overall with the social aspect of your life. I personally believe that theatre class can benefit everyone in one way or another.

I hear a lot about budget cuts and suspending theatre and music programs which worries me. I have high ambitions in my life; performing art classes are what will help me reach them. If

they go away, so do my chances of being prepared for acting or singing in the real world. Theatre benefits students more than just academically. It’s a stepping stone that some people like myself need to help them reach their dreams. It also serves as an outlet for students who otherwise can't express themselves and it allows them to explore feelings and emotions in a safe environment. It gives you experience with a lot of different things. Being a part of theatre is something that you will most likely remember for a long time.

Just think without theatre programs in schools a portion of the student population would be without an extra curricular activity. Studies have shown that students who are involved in extra curricular activities are more likley to succed in life. The preforming arts programs are often filled with students that come from all different backgrounds and life experiences.

If you asked me right now what impact theatre has had on my life I wouldn’t know where to start. To me it’s so important to have educational theatre in schools. I have grown so much as a person which I love being able to say. I am now confident in myself and I speak my mind. I feel like theatre was what got me to this point in my life. In my school theatre is respected and if that got taken away from our school it just would not feel like the same school. The school’s environment would be completely different. Overall I feel like

My writing about the preforming arts programs in schools and why they’re important. -Emily Natwick

by Emily Natwick• • •

Haven't you ever heard anyone say that a rule is a rule? Well I guess that doesn't apply anymore. Mountain Ridge and Mountain Vista have many rules that are bent. Depending on the student and the situation the teachers and workers treat them differently.

Most schools have a no hats in school rule, but the rule has been bent a little. Whenever a guy wears a hat teachers and workers are quick to ask that guy to take it off, but when a girl wear a hat its "cute" and the girls can wear it all day. The teachers and workers are being completely sexist. I don't think that's ok. They either need to enforce the rule on everyone or not have it at all.

This sexism issue goes past hats, teachers and workers also display sexism in P.E. they always expect the guys to do more than the girls. Almost like the guys have more skill than girls do. The guys are expected to run longer or do more reps. than the girls. This should really stop. In P.E. wouldn't it be fine to just have the same expectations for both boys and girls. I think that you could have the standards by age not gender.

If that didn't happen we would have more respect for each other. There wouldn't nearly be as much boasting about who can do what the best in school. I talked to students around mrms and a few from mvhs and Most of them agreed that teachers and workers have favorites, and that they treat some students differently. My whole point is just that everyone needs to be treated equally.

A Rule is a Rule

Megan Christina PepperHighlands Ranch, Colorado. This is where I was born and where I still live today. My full name is Megan Christina Pepper, born December 17,1997. I enjoy the mountains and like the cold better than the warm. Some of my hobbies include soccer, softball, skiing, spending time with my family and watching our Colorado sports teams play. My favorite Colorado team in the Avalanche then the Rookies. My overall favorite sports team is the Wyoming Cowboys. This is the college football team for the University of Wyoming. My family and I love Wyoming, both my parents graduated from the University of Wyoming and some of their old friends still live there. We visit at least once a year sometimes two. Wyoming is great but I love Hawaii, specifically Kauai. Well I have only been to Maui when I was 3 and Kauai last Thanksgiving. I don' t really remember Maui but Kauai is great.  It is warm and they have afternoon showers but they are so light you hardly realize that it’s raining. Kauai is also small, I like small towns so it works out nicely. Someday I hope to visit Kauai again or even live in Kauai. Someday I also hope to play soccer and softball for Mountain Vista High School. I plan to play softball in the fall and soccer in the spring. A book that helped me like softball even more, than I already do, was Close Call by Todd

The book Close Call is about friendship and sportsmanship. This book showed me how fun baseball can be and how lucky I am to be playing on such a great softball team. Another book that has impacted me is The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. This book is about gangs and division of classes. This book was relatable in the sense that I understood the division of classes. It showed me how lower classes feel and how the higher ones treat them badly. I hadn’t really noticed it but the world revolves around how much money you have and what class you are in. This book helped me to write from different perspectives and not just mine.

I have grown as a writer in many ways this year from sentence structure, to styles, to perspectives. I am starting to write with different sentence structures and my fluency is getting better. I am also getting better at writing different genres or styles of writing from short stories, to poems, to persuasive. Overall my writing has improved greatly this year.

I have many hopes and dreams for the future from small to big, from High School Sports teams to becoming a surgeon, I plan to make an impact on many peoples lives. I wish to live in Kauai and hike to the top of the Maroon Bells. I plan to use my writing to achieve these goals by keeping my grades up and getting into good colleges. I am Megan Christina Pepper,  a dreamer, a believer, a writer.

Wyoming Cowboys

Football

First

The sun was setting putting an

orange, red glow everywhere.

Tourist all around, all watching the

same thing. It was Thanksgiving.

Not a normal one though. We were

at a Luau in Hawaii. The men

wearing grass skirts grunted as

they pulled hot rocks out of the

pit. The sound of people awing at

the sight of the fresh cooked pig.

I was quivering at the sight since I

love pigs. I moved behind a tall

man so I wouldn’t see…Standing in

the buffet line getting hand

sanitizer before grabbing a warm

plate. There it was, right in front

of me. Under the tent it was cool

but I was hot. It was now dark

and the beautiful plants hidden.

Placing a small piece of the pork

on my plate. I was going to try it,

but not like it.

Poetry

The population of Highlands Ranch, Colorado has been growing to quickly. Since 2000 we have added almost 23,000 people to our “small” town. Highlands Ranch is advertised as a small town with good schools, good people and as a safe place. If we keep building these living areas like Spaces and Back Country then we will no longer be a small town, we will be a city with no wildlife or space. The only reason we are building these places is because people want to live here. The only reason people want to live here is because it is a little, healthy, active and educated place. We are no longer a little town, we are turning into a city with buildings and highways and PEOPLE!

We aren’t just expanding houses but restaurants and shopping. There is a new shopping area next to your house about every year. There is people building new roads and highways everyday when they should be !xing the roads we have now. I realize that we are building roads and highways to keep the roads we have safe and not as busy but the reason they are becoming not safe and busy is because more people are coming to Highlands Ranch.

Also all this building is having an effect on the environment. These little open spaces that we pass off as wilderness are not cutting it. Every once a and a while you will hear that a child or adult "has been attacked by a coyote or there animal has been eaten. Well this is because you have built your house on there house. They have no more food so they resort to what you have brought. The building also has an effect on the environment. All these fossil fuels are being burned and putting out pollution. We are polluting the air we are breathing by trying to expand the people here. The environment is suffering because of our building and expansion.

My suggestions are that we keep advertising ourselves as a good town just not let as many people live here. We will stop people from living here by not selling open space to builders. I believe that if you want to live here you have to !nd an already built house, not build one. By doing this we save the environment, our selves and the town. Highlands Ranch is expanding to quickly and it needs to stop.

Commentary

Are we Still a

Small Town?

-Megan Pepper

A perfect society is a place with rulers, secrets, no choices and perfection. Now this statement could be argued and rewritten to “A Society is a place with rulers, secrets, no choices and NO perfection.” In the book The Giver by Lois Lowry and The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau their is a society. This society/utopia has rulers, secrets, no choices and perfection. This can’t happen though because perfection doesn’t exist.  

Utopias are said to be a perfect societies. Perfection doesn’t exist though. This is because everyone has their own opinion about what is perfection. If one person thinks it is perfect but another doesn’t then how is it considered perfect. That is the problem with the societies in the books The Giver and The City of Ember. They try to achieve a utopia, but it is only a utopia to some people. Others may think it isn’t a utopia. “She gazed down through the gulf, and all of what she had believed about the world began to slowly break apart.” Utopias don’t exist.  

Choices are a big part of life and utopias lack them. You chose all day long, between what to eat or wear, how to do this or that. Without choice life would be...perfect, well according to the people in the cities The Giver and The City of Ember. Perfection doesn’t exist, but the people in these books don’t get to chose if perfection is real or not, they are told. “Two children-one male, one female-to each family unit. It was written very clearly in the rules.” If the people in these books had choose then maybe it would be different. That is the problem with man we are always trying to achieve something that isn’t real. A utopia.

People in societies keep secrets. Societies are supposed to be perfect but if there are secrets is it perfect? Well there are secrets in the societies in The Giver and The City of  Ember. Only some people know these secrets. In The Giver the secrets are held by the giver. The giver knows about feelings, color and our life today. “He stared at the flat, colorless sky.” The city doesn’t. In The City of Ember the secrets are kept by the mayor. The mayor knows about the escape and the extra food and supplies. He doesn’t tell the city though. Those are secrets and not just little ones but big ones. So then why are they kept from the city? Utopias don’t have secrets, so then utopias doesn’t exist.

ComparePerfection

-Megan Peppe

r

About the Author... Hi my name is Seth Radman and I was born in Denver, Colorado. Something that I think that is unique about me is that my preferred career is a particle physicist. I like reading a lot so I am always looking for a good book. I especially like books about the ancient roman empire. These books are incredibly interesting. Something I dislike is being wrong and I admit I am sometimes as stubborn as a bull. A book that impacted my life is To Kill a Mockingbird this book changed the way I thought about racism against blacks. A book I will remember is To Kill a Mockingbird because it was written extremely well and I enjoyed it immensely. The writing style of this book was really good and detailed. A book that changed my view on the world was a book I read about world war 2 and it showed the brutality of war. Another good WW2 book is Mause. This is a book about a man and his wife going through the holocaust and getting separated then finding each other again. This book is a true story and is a very compelling and interesting story of the brutality of the Nazis. I think as a writer I have grown immensely learning different styles and which ones best suit me. Personally I like to start in the middle of the story then move back to the beginning. With these new skills I would like to be able to apply for an Ivy League School or maybe somewhere in California.

These would be my top choices because they all have a good education system. I will get a degree in physics and become a scientist maybe working for CERN. I would also like to get a PhD so that I can make everyone call me Dr. Radman. CERN is the European Organization of Nuclear Research. What I am really excited about is their large hadron collider. I have always found particle physics to be fascinating. This is why I am looking to pursue a career in it. With these skills I will then try to discover the

Higgs Boson particle if it has not been discovered already. The Higgs Boson particle is the particle that gives particles their mass. It is a very interesting and complicated. This is just a part of my dream. I would also like to apply for flight school once I graduate college. Writing is a great skill used in all aspects of life. I think that writing is a vital skill because it leads to all your hopes and dreams.

I think my favorite quote would have to be ‘Only the dead have seen the end of war.’-Plato The first time I heard this quote I didn’t understand it then I thought about it and understood.

Featured Writing...

Nature

Valor

Never Give Up

SETH RADMAN

Poetry and Short Work Page

SIX WORD STORIES

AND QUOTES

Wisdom is freedom from ignorance.

Do or do not there is no try-Yoda

Irrational fears, always are rational

Trying to gain what you already lost

The hardest thing in life is trying to do the right thing when others aren’t-John Radman

Skinny, fast food, obesity, death

Bravery, the will to do the right thing for others.

NatureBears

They prowl and maulThey walk slowly and stalk there prey

They look fast and sleekThey feel rough yet soft

They smell disgusting and like bloodThey are majestic and strong

They are bears

by Seth Radman• • •

Valor The legionary waited anxiously in formation ready for the signal that he knew the centurion would issue and as his cohort marched up the hill they saw the first glimpse of their enemy. They were blood thirsty barbarians holding crude weapon like dull sword, planks of wood with nails, and many other strange things. They stopped and waited for the order then the centurion yelled “Gladius draw!”. As the cohort unsheathed their sword and with a loud “Rah!”. The cohort charged and collided with the enemy.

Legionary Titus Macro ProculusLegion XX Valeria Cohort IIII Century ICologne,Roman Empire21 A.D. 13 August Titus awoke from his dream swinging his arms until he realized where he was. His dream had turned into a total bloodbath so many soldiers had died. Titus thought it scary that so many could die so fast and they may never be remembered or have a proper burial. Titus swung out of his bunk and went to the back room to collect his armor and weapons. Once he retrieved them he started to clean them when his Decanus walked over his name was Magnus. “Good morning, Titus how have you been doing?” he said. “I have been doing good, but I am nervous about my first battle.” Titus replied. “Don’t worry Titus we all were worried our first time actually we are all always nervous for every battle it isn’t just the first one. Now come help me wake the rest of the section” Magnus said. Titus got up and helped his sergeant wake the rest of the section. The soldiers in his section were named Cammilus, Valens, Statorius, and Carbo. As Titus made breakfast for his section they heard the cornicen call to arms. The section quickly packed its things and put on their armor and weapons. They then rushed outside and into

formation. They started the long march to the Germanic Territories. After the legion crossed the Rhine it took several days to get to the tribes that they were waging war against the tribe was called the Cherusci tribe and was being attacked because of attacks on a roman legion who had fallen to them. After several days of marching we finally found the Cherusci tribes encampment which was a fortress with 20 ft. high walls and filled with huts. The legion spent the night on the opposite side of the hill. While the legion slept the barbarians gathered there own force of men so that they might be able to stop the ruthless legions of Rome. The war chief gathered his best men and assembled a strategy to defeat the legions. The next morning the legion prepared for battle and marched over the hill to see an enemy army waiting for them. Titus looked upon his enemy they were barbaric and had crude weapons just like his dream. Then he came back to reality and hefted his javelin. The enemy started advancing when the centurion yelled “Front rank throw!”. Titus ran forward and threw the javelin as it arced through the air and embedded itself in a barbarian rushing forward. The rest of his cohort threw there javelins which disrupted the barbarian ranks. Then the centurion yelled “Gladius draw!”. The cohort erupted with a loud “Rah!” as the soldiers drew their gladii. Titus ran forward with shield and gladius and hit the enemy hard. He pulled back and started attacking he would use the metal boss of his shield to bash his opponent and follow up with quick stab or slash to a vital area after minutes of fighting fatigue started slowing Titus’s movement and lucky the centurion ordered halt and the cohort got set for the “Passage of Lines”. Then the centurion ordered “Execute passage of lines.”. The second rank ran past the first rank and collided with the enemy while the first rank went to the back of the cohort and collected the dead and wounded. Within minutes the battle was over and the Romans had won and the legion marched back to Cologne and celebrated there victory with drinks,

food, and well deserved sleep. Titus though happiness was around him felt bad about the people he had killed. Even though his sergeant said that you always felt that way after a battle he still felt sad.

Genre: Historical FictionValor

by Seth Radman• • •

Never Give UpI had just reached the

church. That meant I was at the half way marker. Time to turn around and finish what I ‘d started. I was covered in sweat from the hot July sun. Hundreds of droplets all over me were running into my eyes and mouth. The sun was like an inferno. It blazed down on us. My legs burned from the strenuous activity. My lungs felt like they were being crushed by a boulder and the air ripped at my throat. I kept thinking that it was okay and I needed to keep running. Even though it hurt, I kept going; I had a goal to accomplish. I was going to finish this run without walking. I had been running every day for weeks and every day I’d had to walk. Sometimes I didn’t have to walk for long, but every day I had to walk some, regardless of how far I planned to run; today, I wasn’t walking. I was terribly thirsty and I needed water. It was like a drought except for the lush green grass of the clean cut golf course with a shimmering blue pool of water that we ran alongside. As I ran by, I watched the white golf carts gliding across the fields of green and a flag attached to a pole whipping in the wind. It was a beautiful day but that was all overshadowed by the intense pain that I was feeling. I was breathing hard and it was getting difficult to keep going, but then I saw the Super Target and knew I was too close to give up. I had to keep going; I had to keep trying.

I remember how the run started. It wasn’t too bad, but it was hot. First we stretched out and warmed up so that we wouldn’t pull a muscle. Then Mr. Dalby said that we had two choices: a four mile run or a five mile run. Immediately I knew this was going to be hard to do. Some of my friends chose the five mile run, but I chose the four mile run because I would rather run four miles without walking than run five miles and walk. We all started down

the road and I was focusing on my breathing to make sure it was good. It was dusty and hot, and I was thirsty. Unluckily, I had forgotten my water so my throat was dry, but I kept going. We ran towards the Super Target and then made a left. It seemed like an easy run and I knew the way. It seemed shorter when you drive the route but when you run it feels a lot longer. Also, the route was relatively flat with a couple of rolling hills but those hills were harder then you would expect. There were a couple of side streets that we had to wait for cars to pass so we didn’t get hit by a car. I remember climbing the final hill towards the half way point, the church. Then I flash back to reality.

I had just rounded the corner and was almost to the Bluffs but it was getting hard to run and I was slowing but I couldn’t stop. I had to finish. My legs were burning and my chest was hurting and it was hard to get enough air but I kept fighting and went on. I kept thinking that I was going to make it and this positive attitude kept me going but it was very hard to keep running. The final uphill stretch was killing me and I almost had to stop. My legs felt like they were on fire and they were very weak. The air felt like it was lighting my insides on fire and it was extremely hard to keep on going. Then I remembered all those times I had kept going even if it was hard or scary. I pushed on. I never gave up. This epiphany kept me going and I didn’t stop. Then I reached the crest of the hill and I saw the parking lot and kept running because I couldn’t stop when I was so close to my goal. When I reached the end, I realized that I just ran 4 miles without stopping. I was completely exhausted and looked forward to getting home. All my friends came back and we stretched out and sprinted a little to cool down. I waited with my friends until our parents got there to take us home. As I waited, I realized this was a

great achievement for me and this was a milestone of my life.

Genre: Non-FictionNever Give Up

EMILY REED

What to come: Fiction Story Short Memory Narrative Commentary

About the Author:Emily Reed lives in the beautiful Highlands Ranch,

Colorado. She is 14 and goes to Mountain Ridge Middle School. With her happy attitude she always has a smile on her face. She plays and enjoys tennis, the violin, and practically eats, breathes, and lives art. From doodling on page corners to sculptures in art class, art is the greatest thing to her. She has entered many art contests and has won some art awards including a blue ribbon at the DCSD Art Show and a school art award. She hopes to continue art and tennis and keep getting better and better at both.

The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau has taught Emily that even though you might want a different life in the end you will hate that life and want your old life back desperately just like Zeeta wanted in the Indigo Notebook. The same idea applied to another of her top books The Sweetest Thing where Sheridan wanted a really popular life that included a popular boyfriend. Not until she realizes that she really wanted was already being offered to her. Ten years from now she will remember the Hunger Games Series. The “Hunger Games” series has taught her that you can change the world even though it is a mess of hurt and confusion. Stick to your beliefs and to who you really are, just like Katniss, Peeta, and Gale in the Hunger Games Series.

As a writer she has learned that even though you might not have a great idea right then it will always come to you and it will turn out spectacular. With the right determination you can create wonderful artwork with words. In the past year she has experimented with commentaries, narratives, and song reviews. Her favorite was the narrative about a scary memory of hers that will never go away. She used to like to write to describe things and still does. But she doesn’t mind doing a little research for a compelling story or writing about a story. She uses her artistic talents to make master pieces of writing.

Emily hopes to show people, through writing how she sees the world. Using descriptive writing she hopes that people will enjoy this and find her writing really interesting and want more. She also hopes to continue to learn more styles of writing. Maybe like moving pieces of writing. She would like to make people scared or get teary eyed with her pieces. She might be doing this in the future. She hopes that maybe her writing will change the way people look at the world and maybe change for the better. What would life be like if there was no hurting people physically and mentally? Or maybe if people simply cared for one another? Could be really nice and it could all be from a person and their writing.

Poetry and Short Work Page

In the car. Rain pounding on the windows. No color in the sky. My brother next to me sleeping on a pillow nested between the car seat and the door. My brother and my sister enjoy the pictures flash from the tiny T.V hanging from the ceiling, and laughing occasionally at the funny movie clip. My mom is telling my dad detailed directions of how to get there. A long agonizing trip to a place that I have been waiting for for months. Anticipation rises as we reach new towns after fields of nothing. Tyler asks how much longer. Half an hour later my other brother, Nick asks the same thing. Constant trips trips to disgusting gas stations and even more disgusting restrooms. I can’t take it any more! But, then there it is.

Bay’s eyes widen as I walk through the stable doors. Bay is my horse and the stables are my haven. I spend every day there and almost every minute with Bay. I watched as she was born, have watched her fighting through sickness, and her victories. We have strong relationship between us. We were going to go to the vet for a check up for Rain because she had colic that day. It was a hard day because me and my best friend Hanna could not get Rain to get into the horse trailer.  We tried bribing her with apples and carrots, nothing.  Then we tried pulling her in but she resisted.  We just could not do it. So we called the vet and asked her if she could come to us instead, but she could not come until 2:00 p.m.  So then I went to take care of my usual chores and took a ride to sea-turtle rock next to the waterfall. Then the vet arrived.  ! She did the normal blood test, heart rate, body temperature.  When she went over to her head she looked concerned.  My dad seemed to be too by the look on his face looking at the vets face.  Then Hanna looked at me and I looked at her and asked “Whats wrong”. The vet slowly said “ I believe...that...this is just from my experience... that Rain...could........be blind due to the sickness of course.” Then it hit me “Blind?” I didn’t know what to say but I knew I was not going to let this be a problem between me and Rain’s relationship.  I was going to spend every minute with her. Hanna was weeping. I didn’t know what to do.  My dad stood there like his mind was going in all directions. The vet said she was sorry this had to be and then she gave us some information on what to do and told us this was going to be hard to cope with. My dad walked over to me gave me a hug and took Rain to her stall, I followed and stood in the stall blankly.  Then my dad went to go get her some food and water and then left without a word.   I watched as Rain went over to the toff missed it and tried a few times to get a drink.  That's when I lost it.  I sat down in the fresh new hay crying and I think I cried till nothing came out of my eyes.  Then I just stopped and starred at the ground and rain touched my forehead with her nose and that reassured me this was going to work.

“Let’s run from David...hopefully he won’t see us,” I say to my best friend Lydia and push open the school door.

She says “OK” and giggles.

We take off running. Happiness fills our bodies. We run on the sidewalk through the grass along the giant red brick wall. Wind through our hair and blowing our simple dresses backward. Tip-toe, tip-toe and bolt again.

Remembering the things he has done to me. Pushing me into the mud. Laughing at me. Now we try our best to avoid him. Running fast and watching to the left. Watching David’s every move playing football with all his friends.

Giggle. Giggle. Giggle. Sprint. Run. And BANG. Nose throbbing. Blood everywhere. Stinging mouth. Aching head. I feel like a train just hit me. Crying for relief, I suddenly drop to my knees with pain. One look at Lydia and she bolts off like lightning for the outside teacher. Everyone is suddenly around me and I feel so ashamed with excruciating pain in my whole head. I see the boy I ran into holding his head, the wall ball players, Mia my other friend, some older girls who were walking by, and finally the teacher moves the crowd aside.

She helps me up and I take a painful walk to the bathroom sink just inside. I’m crying hysterically. She starts to

clean up my mouth and nose and the scrapes on my knees. Every swipe comes with more pain. She almost gives up. I see my teacher come by and she stops in her tracks. “What happened?” But all that comes out of my mouth is more blood and a murmuring cry, not knowing where to start. She must have forgotten her question. Before I knew it she starts jamming paper towels in the sink to clean up the mess. They both are telling me to do things I can’t like, “Put your hand down”, “Look up”, “I need you to work with me”, “Please stop crying”.

I just block them out and look down at my dress. My blue dress has turned to tie die with red. Terrified, I look up at them. I notice they need more help and they know it too. They put all the towels in the trash and drag me up the stairs and into the office clinic. I sit in the chair while they finish me up. I am so thankful for not having to taste and smell blood. They carefully place cotton balls into my mouth and leave to call my Mom and Dad. What seems like hours, my Mom finally comes and her eyes grow three times their original size when she sees me. I am so relieved to see her because I know “Help was on the way”.

While on the phone with the Dentist my mom drives the short ride to the dentist office. All I think is “Great now the Dentist”. So scared, I walk slowly into the back room and lay my throbbing head down on the bed. Laying there scared to

death I glance at my Mom and she is telling my Dad the whole story, she thinks she knows. A few minutes later the Dentist comes in and asks me if I like oranges. Then she puts on a laughing gas nosepiece that stings my nose and smells like oranges. They make my mouth hurt the whole time. After that, they tell me I lost two teeth, which I don’t know what has happened to. They give me extra cotton balls, a toy from the treasure chest, and a sticker.

I get into the car and almost fall asleep. My mom then asks me if I want a frosty I disappointingly say “no”. My mouth still stings and I have a huge head ache, not to mention ten cotton balls still in my mouth that I have no idea what to do with. Then we drive off to pick up my sister from school. The same school I just had a nightmare in.

Ding, ding, and ding. The bell rings and I see my classmates come out and they flood my car asking me questions and comments. “Are you alright?” “I was worried for a while” “Did you lose any teeth?” “We looked for any teeth you might have lost.” “You hit my head hard, but I’m glad you are OK.”

I just give them slight smile that says I’m OK.

First Grade Recess NightmareBy Emily Reed

A Cowboy Thrill, An Animal NightmareBy: Emily Reed

There is always a trill or a rage people get from the rodeo. I don’t get it. The only thing in a rodeo that is I think benefits the animal is, when those poor animals whip the nasty people off their backs. Ruling the west is nothing compared to slamming a calf on the ground and roping them into a helpless ball, or forcing horses to buck until they can’t buck anymore. The people say the majority of the animals are not hurt in the events. Anyone can see that those animals just want to quit the constant trips to the rodeo. If they are even alive long enough to even be in the cruel rodeo, more than once.

Those calves don’t even get a life. Their life is packed full of trips to rodeos. They are side by side to other helpless calves. Endless nightmares of going into the ring. Hundreds of dives into the hard earth. Hearing screaming people wanting there favorites to get them on the ground as fast as they can. Then, being let go, and doing it over and over again. The worst part is they get thrown on the ground time after time, until they are broken and sent off to be slaughtered. Dr. C.G. Haber, a veterinarian spent 30 years as a federal meat inspector, he saw many animals from rodeos sold to the slaughterhouses he inspected. He described seeing animals "with 6-8 ribs broken from the spine, and sometimes punctured lungs." Haber saw animals with "2-3 gallons of free blood under their detached skin." These injuries occur when animals are thrown in calf-roping events or jumped on, by people on horseback during steer wrestling. These calves are born to die, without a real sense of the outside world beyond the walls of the rodeo.

The horses are forced to buck, raised to buck, and don’t get a chance to be a normal horse. No, they can’t be normal horses because people see what the horses can do to people, so they are rejected. A human forced act of danger the horse stumbles on, marks the horse as dangerous and they are sent for slaughter. If you watch the strap come off, they act like normal horses. Their beauty is lost by scares of sharp spurs, hits in there holding box, or blows on the ring walls. The thing is, no one cares about the beauty of a bucking horse. They only care how hard the horse bucks the cowboys.

Injuries are always common in rodeos. All of the animals are at a high risk of being really hurt, but they never escape the horror of the rodeo. A terrified, young horse burst from the chutes at the Can-Am Rodeo, slammed into a fence, and broke her neck. By the end of one of the annual, nine-day Calgary Stampedes in Alberta, Canada, six animals were dead, including one horse who died of an aneurysm and another who suffered a broken leg and had to be killed. The next year, six more animals died at the same event. As horses born for the event were being herded across a bridge. Fear caused them to stampede. Some jumped and others were pushed into the river, this lead to nine horse deaths. During the Rodeo Houston, a bull with a broken neck was left to suffer for a full 15 minutes before he was killed because there was nothing of him to show. During the National Western Stock Show, a horse crashed into a wall and broke his neck, and another horse broke his back after being forced to buck. Cowboys should not be able to to this to animals and worse show this in public.

About a month ago I went to the National Western Stock Show wanting to see the beautiful horses and super cute calves. This was the first time remembering the events of the stock show, because I was so little to remember them before. The second I saw that calf hit the ground, I had to look away for the rest of the event. That calf looked so scared, terrified, and helpless after being flipped over in the air and dropped to the ground like a worthless piece of trash. I sat there holding back tears of the sight all the different calf’s scared faces.

One time I remember going on a trail ride, and it was fantastic being on a gentle horse that obviously loved having people riding him. And every time I go to my Uncle’s dairy the cows look content and pleased to be to live there, where they are well taken care of. All animals on earth are beautiful and worth something to us. Rodeos should no longer be able to have a production of animals cruelty like a live horror movie. Rodeos should be for riding the horses, not for cruelty.

Bilal is an 8th grader at Mountain Ridge Middle School. He was born on January 15, 1998 at the Littleton Adventist Hospital in Littleton, Colorado. He likes to play basketball and soccer, ride his bike, rock climb, snorkel, scuba dive, and many other enjoyable things. Some unique things about Bilal’s life are that he has had six stitches on his left hand, loves both Star Wars and Star Trek, and plays the trumpet in the school jazz band. Other things that he likes to do in his spare time are take nature photographs, shoot guns, and go hiking. Bilal likes hiking up 14ers and going mountain biking in numerous places in Colorado. He likes to ski at Winter Park and snowboards as well. A place he likes to go is Mexico. In Mexico, he likes to snorkel, scuba dive, visit Mayan pyramids, and eat great Mexican food. Bilal also likes to visit his family in Houston and South Jersey. He hopes for worldwide peace and one unified nation.

A book that has impacted his life is the Lost Years of Merlin. He is very intrigued by the plot about a young Merlin and about his youth that he hides from people as his closely guarded secret. This book really touched Bilal because it took a character he already knew very well and put him in an entirely different light. Because he read this book, he became very interested in the story of Merlin and King Arthur, and did more research to see how the books tied in with actual legend. This is a book that Bilal thinks that he will remember ten

years from now. A book that has changed his view of the world is The Grand Design, because it explained the universe to him in a whole new perspective. This book intrigued him greatly because it showed him many things about the world he lives in, such as where he came from, where everything around him came from, and where the very world he lives in came from. As you can see, that book was a life changing experience for him in the way he thinks.

As a writer, he has gone through an exhilarating experience.

He has gone to the school spelling bee four times in his life, and has also gone to the district and state spelling bee as well. Bilal has written short stories, as well as numerous other poems, biographies, informational stories, and many others as well. He loves to read both fiction and non-fiction books. He just started reading non-fiction books when he read a biography about Yuri Gagarin called Starman. He’s read many fiction books, including Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and Eragon.

BILAL REZA

Featured Writing...

•Six Word Stories and Quotes•The Alleyway•The Cat•Book Report

Poetry and Short Work PageSIX WORD

STORIES/QUOTES

Bottle bought, baby born, bottle returned.

McDonald’s, fat gained, alone for life

Do or do not, there is no try-Yoda

A grapefruit is just a lemon that saw an opportunity and took advantage of it.

The Alleyway When I go down the road, thinking about thought,

I pause. I see an alleyway, dark and damp. I stare down, and as I walk past, I feel that it stares back. I can’t help but stop again, and look into the deep, thoughtful eyes of an alleyway. I can see its knowledge. I can see its years. I see its sorrow. Its youth, its age. Its thought, its mind. I see its wisdom, deep in those invisible eyes, along with

its long gone cries, its incredible size. I walk through it and stare around me. No one seems to notice, to care. For this alleyway on many an err.

And as I go deeper, my heart beating neater, to its own rhythmic chant. Oh,

that ancient rhythmic chant. It gets darker and darker, closer and farther.

Oh yes, at the same time. How, though, I still cannot say. Impossible it seems, even to me. Sometimes I think

about it, yes I do, but the longer I ponder, the more it eludes me. I touch the wall, that ancient, city-old wall. And

that ever-full dumpster, hideous yet beautiful. The rotten smell, along with the usefulness to passersby, who may throw their least desired items away. Yet there are those who find those

useless items useful, and take them for their own. Those who live in the corners, void of any visitors, any

companionship. Yet somehow they are beautiful, too. I really could go on about this extraordinary place, but alas, I must

go. Alas, I must go...

“A grapefruit is just a lemon that saw an opportunity and took advantage of it.”

“I’ve been on the verge of being an angel all my life,

but it’s never happened yet.”-- Mark Twain

by: Bilal Reza• • •

THIS IS ONE OF MY FIRST PIECES OF WRITING THAT I CREATED IN EIGHTH GRADE, AND ENTERED IT IN AS ONE OF MY WEEKLY WRITES.

The CatOnce, on an average summer day, I was riding my bike down the neighborhood. While I was riding, I would occasionally peer down different streets and alleyways. I saw an old dumpster, an abandoned warehouse, and a small butchers shop. But the next thing I saw surprised me above all the rest. It was a cat. Not your average house cat, but rather a cat with the tail of a lizard and the wings of... what was it? Ah, yes, it had the wings of a dragon. As the creature watched me intently, I watched it. For several minutes we sat there, staring at one another. Then, very abruptly, it started to walk away. I guess I was so curious about what kind of creature it was that I got off of my bike and started walking after it. It felt as if my legs were working on their own, that they had their own mind. I was not only walking toward the cat, both sets of legs moving like an incessantly pounding drum. My heart started to join their chorus, beating faster and faster. Then, in the blink of an eye, the cat vanished. I stood there, dumbfounded, wondering where the cat could have possibly gone. Then I noticed it. A small hole in the wall, barely as tall as my knee is high. But it was narrow.

Excruciatingly narrow. How in the world did the cat get in there? No, that couldn’t possibly possibly be it. And yet... I felt and impulse, as real as my beating heart, that made me wonder. Not really knowing why, I tried to dislodge some of the stone by the crack. To my surprise, it came off as lightly as a piece of cardboard. Now, the hole was as big as a stop sign. Seeing the enlarged hole, I decided to crawl inside. Once I was inside, I realized I was in some kind of cave. What’s more, I could see in the cave! Somehow, though in a way I still can’t place, there was a kind of warm, glowing light. It didn’t just fill my eyes with light, but rather my entire body. I looked left, and I looked right. To my right, there was what looked like the source to the light. I walked toward it, somehow as sure as riding my bike. The moment I rounded the corner, I was awed by what I saw. Hundreds of winged cats worked and played, frolicked and laughed. By the looks of it, this could have been an entire city of cats. The next moment, the eyes of each and every cat stared down on me. And then, the most incredible thing yet happened.

One of the cats spoke. In its deep, resonant voice, it said “Visitors don’t ever come down here from the world above.”

I stuttered “I-I’m not a visitor, I-I merely lost m-my way.

“Hmm, visitor who lost his way, you may stay here, for a time. But you must go eventually, because of our most ancient law, prohibiting any mere mortal from above to come into our immortal underground realm.”

“Immortal?” It came out of my mouth before I could stop myself.

“Yes indeed,” was the reply. Then, there was an immediate chorus of applause.

So, over the next few days, or weeks, or months, or whatever it was, we lived together. I learned from them, just as they learned from me.

But then, that dreaded day came.

“You must go now,” said the leader

“But must I? Surely you can make an exception to the law.” I remarked

He replied “No, I will not disrespect the knowledge of my clan council, by going against our oldest law.

I sighed “Ok then. How do I get out?”

“I will take care of that,” he said.

And then there was a blinding light, and an instant later, I was standing in the alleyway. Nothing had changed, my bike was still there, the butchers shop, the dumpster. But my memory had something far more valuable in it. The memory of friends. I knew I would try to go back, but until then, I rode my bike back home...

Short Story Genre

by: Bilal Reza• • •

THIS IS A BOOK REPORT THAT I DID FOR MY FIFTH BOOK REPORT THAT I DID FOR A BOOK THAT I READ NEAR THE BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR.

Merlin’s Dragon: Doomraga’s Revenge

The book Merlin’s Dragon: Doomraga’s Revenge By: T.A. Barron is an exceptionally excellent book. It tells the story of Basilgarrad, a mighty dragon who used to be small in size, but great in heart. In the end of the prequel to this book, Basil was made to grow rapidly by the wizard Merlin, thus also giving him the name of Basilgarrad. After that, Basilgarrad and Merlin traveled Avalon in order to sustain peace and justice. But when many creatures are braking out in violence, their job increases tenfold. There are breakouts from the fire dragons, birds. and dactylbirds, and even mist faeries, which are normally quite peaceful. The fire dragons are constantly attacking the dwarves, wanting to take the flame jewels for themselves. As Merlin and Basilgarrad are trying to set a treaty between the fire dragons and the dwarves, other problems are arising. There is a deadly blight spreading over Woodroot, Basilgarrad’s homeland. Merlin, his sister Rhia, the priest Lleu, and Nuic

the pinnacle sprite go into a portal to an elano cave, so that they could collect pure elano, the most powerful substance in Avalon. They then used that elano to save Woodroot, and ultimately Avalon. Meanwhile. Basilgarrad traveled to Waterroot, so that he may converse with the highlord of the water dragons, Bendegeit. At first, Bendegeit is unwilling to help, because he thinks that this plague could never possibly spread all the way to his realm of Waterroot. But then his daughter Marnya comes and tells him that she believes that this is the person who will teach her to fly. So, Bendegeit agrees that he will help Basilgarrad and tell him the cause of all of the mischief and violence that is going on in Avalon if he can teach Marnya to fly. At first, Basilgarrad thinks that he will never know what is causing Avalon's destruction, for how could he possibly teach a water dragon to fly? Well, eventually he lifts her up out of the water and she glides back down, so Bendegeit shows him the cause of the mischief, a dark slithering work reeking of death in a dark pit. As this happens, Merlin’s son, Krystallus, journeys to Shadowroot, the realm of eternal dark. When he goes there, he finds his competitor, Serella, lying on the ground, very close to death. He brings

her back through the portal from where he came, and arrives at her palace. But when he gets to her palace, her guards think that he is trying to kill her, and they imprison him. Eventually he escapes and goes to Serella’s room and tells her that he was saving her and not killing her. So, they become friends, and she gives him a special compass that always points skyward so that he may use it on his journey to the stars. Then, Merlin, his wife Hallia, and Basilgarrad go to make a treaty with the dwarves. Once there, a dwarf who has been intoxicated by an evil warlord spirit shoots an arrow at Merlin but Hallia dives in the way and she dies. Merlin then leaves Avalon out of misery, and so does his sister Rhia. On the night that Merlin leaves, the stars in the constellation the “Wizard’s Staff” go dark. Basilgarrad then must deal with Avalon’s troubles himself, constantly flying to keep the peace. He figures that he needs Merlin more that ever, and he goes to Krystallus asking whether or not he would go to find Merlin and bring him back to Avalon. Krystallus disagrees, but he gives Basilgarrad a magical map that would help him to find Merlin. As Basil leaves, he needs to go fight in an epic battle against hundreds of fire dragons and thousands of flamelon warriors.

Book Report Genre

About the Author...Born in Castle Rock, Colorado,

Caitlin Robinson is an intelligent, insightful writer. She shared a passion for volleyball with her twin sister, Lauren Robinson. Having played volleyball for over five years now, she is a true athlete at heart who will work at anything to accomplish her goals. She loves to travel, for both sports and traveling with her family for fun. Her favorite places to go are Wyoming and California. “Wyoming is where all of my mom’s side of the family lives. They are such a fun group of people and I love visiting with them and having a great time bonding. Each time I go there, I am reminded of all of the childhood memories I had there growing up with my aunt, uncles, cousins, grandparents and more. I wouldn’t be able to go bear not seeing them at least once a year. In addition, California is also another place where I grew up making memories. Being able to travel with my family and go to Disneyland for a week and walking along the beach. Traveling to Wyoming and California are the greatest memories I have ever experienced.” Her favorite book is The Hunger Games. “A truly inspirational book that will keep you turning pages until the end,” she explains it. “I will remember this book for years to come. I could not put the book down because it is so compelling and interesting. All three of the books in the series are action packed and give you such great visual pictures. This book is unforgettable and grabs you right from the start. This story really gets me thinking about what kind of a world that would really be like to live in.”

Over time, Caitlin has learned so much as a writer and has improved with the help of both her teachers and her peers. She has learned how to expand on her range of writing by using different genres. She has improved on using real- life stories and facts in her writing to back up her opinion on a certain subject. “Out of everything I have learned this year,” she says, “the most important thing I learned is how to express my emotions on paper. By using powerful word choice, voice, stories, and hooks in my writing, readers will be drawn in to what I’m expressing.” Her main hope for her future is to continue to learn and grow as a writer

as the years go on. “I hope to continue to learn more skills and techniques each year so that I can improve as a writer. There is always room for improvement.” Her fears for the future, she says, are none. “Goals are all that I have for my writing career, how can I be afraid of learning more and improving as a writer? Not possible.” She hopes that in the future her writing will impact her society emotionally, mentally, and physically. “Writing is like space,” she says, there are endless possibilities and you can never know enough about it.”

CAITLIN ROBINSON

Poetry

DarknessI was standing there, alone and surrounded by nothing but darkness.All I remember from the previous night, are nightmares that I wished I would forget. How is this possible?From complete to empty in just one day. I am so afraid of being alone, and now I can’t believe I actually am.If only I see everyone, just one more time, then my life would be whole again.But I must face reality, I am not going to survive this place.I must spend the last few minutes of my life, in a positive way.Because if I don’t,my life will end in tears.I am pushing so hard to fight the bad memories from coming to my head,but it is worthless.

These memories are way too powerful,to just go away.Now I realize everything.How am I supposed to forget how I am dying?I can’t.I look around for something, anything,that will send me up forever.

But I can’t find anything, I will have to suffer.As I lay there, motionless, I end my life peacefully.

I Need YouI was alone, Thinking about my life without you. What could I possibly do with myself?Sometimes I think about, all of the times I need you.I am in agony, because of something that happened in my life, but then I look at you. I look into your eyes and see the light. I sometimes think that there will never be another sunny day.Everyday from now will be a dark one.Then I hear your voice,feel your presence.And my sorrow flies away. After all of these experiences, I realize something, one thing.I need you in my life. I need someone to lift me out of the dark.And that one person is you. You are strong enough to carry me, through every bad moment in my life. Just from one glance you give me,I smile.I need you, that is all I will say, I need you more than anything else.Because what is this world without you?EMPTY.

by Caitlin Robinson

A controversial issue is at hand and is currently taking place in the United States: the legal driving age should be raised to 18. I believe that the age of legal driving should stay put at 16. Being a teenager, I have grown up convinced that turning 16 is one of the greatest milestones in a teenagers life. I feel that once you reach the age of 16 that you have become responsible enough to take on the challenges of growing up. An opportunity to achieve and take the first steps to becoming independent. Otherwise, if they change the driving age to 18, teenagers would be out of high school before becoming a legal driver and therefore delaying adult responsibilities.

I am very aware of the concerns of teenage driving. According to Allstate Auto Insurance, teenagers account for 12.6% of all drivers involved in fatal crashes in the United States. This may be the reality, but really, it comes down to experience. Teenagers that are 18 won’t be any different behind the wheel than a 16 year old other than a small growth in maturity. In my opinion, it comes down to how much practice and preparation teenagers put in to driving. Although teens account for most of the car crashes, they are most definitely not the only ones.

About 10 years ago, one of my family members personally experienced one of many incidents of an adult car fatality due to lack of concentration and safety. My uncle was taking a quick bike ride around the neighborhood area, enjoying the good weather and calm environment that the day brought him. A man, being completely oblivious and careless, started to drive up the street and dropped something on the floor of his car. It was at that moment that the driver made the wrong decision to quickly bend down and attempt to retrieve his dropped

possession rather than wait until reaching his destination. With his hand on the wheel the entire time, his down motion steered the car towards the bike lane, right where my uncle was. That one decision made by the man behind the steering wheel pleased the lives of none, ruined the lives of many, and took the life of one. One who deserved to live his life to the fullest. One who would’ve been there to watch his kids grow up and have the opportunity to achieve his own dreams in life. All of that changed because of the fatal decision made by a careless adult driver.

According to the NZ Herald Summer Poll, 74% of the people surveyed say increase driving age to 18, 18.5% say stay the same, 6.5% say increase legal driving age to 20, and 0.9% are unsure. Almost all of the adult drivers on the road today started driving before age 18. To punish up and coming 16 year old teenagers would be unfair because they would pay for a few other peoples’ actions. Instead of raising the driving age, there are simple steps that can be made to make the roads safer when it comes to teen driving. We could make the driving test tougher. We could require a retest after compulsory retraining for any new driver caught driving badly. We could also make it so that parents decide if their child is responsible enough to take a driving test or not. Few countries think that 16 and 17 is a mature enough age to vote, smoke, and drink. Many feel as if 18 is the point at which you reach adulthood, so why should 16 year old teens have the privilege of driving before then? This issue is a great argument for the increase in legal driving, but at the same time, once teens reach 16, they have necessities to getting places. Many teens need some way to get to school or work, and teens shouldn’t expect to be driven around by their parents forever. Besides, so many 16 and 17 year old teens are involved in car crashes because they

have just started their experience behind the wheel and are new to driving. If the driving age were to be raised to 18, that would just make 18 year old teens the biggest problem on the road. Raising the driving age would do no good, only kill people a couple years later. What we have to do is keep the legal driving age as it is and better prepare teenagers before driving alone.

A lot of controversy is stirring up about raising the legal driving age to 18 due to the number of fatalities involving 15-17 year old teenagers. Many people feel that doing this will make the roads much safer and decrease the number of accidents on the road each year. In reality, raising the driving age will simply cause more problems. 16 and 17 year old teens will be forced to be driven to work or school by their parents, they will become responsible at an older age, and they will learn the value of independence later. Where as if the driving age weren’t raised, we could make it more certain that before teens drive, they are absolutely prepared and ready to go. The legal driving age should remain at 16 because the most important skills that driving teaches teenagers is responsibility and independence at a younger age.

Road to Independence

by Caitlin Robinson

I walked in the door of the gym, nervous and anticipating the big news. Tentatively, I got dressed out to play and stepped on the hard tiled court. The only thoughts that came to my head during practice was, I’m going to be so excited if we make it. But then right when that thought came to mind, the thought of, I am going to get rejected, crept into it. The idea of being recruited to be a part of Colorado United Volleyball Club was a fantasy that I wanted to become reality so badly. The only thing my sister and I wanted was to play for the “wonderful, athletic and skilled” club. Nothing more. This is my final chance to show them what I’ve got, is what rang through my head at every touch of the leather ball. Every second counted and I knew what was expected. Communication. Intensity. Drive to compete. The time ticked by rapidly until only minutes remained. Five minutes, four minutes, three minutes, two minutes, until finally, the last minute of practice came. The anticipation of what was coming up next was so overwhelming. I could barely manage to stand straight on my own two feet. It’s time. Time to find out if our hard work payed off. There was not a second in those moments that I didn’t think about the conversation that was about to happen that would either make us or break us. “Girls, you know the odds of you two getting in. Just thank your coach for the opportunity.” My dad tried to tell us in the nicest way possible. We knew exactly what he was talking about. Because of how many people they had already recruited and the fact that the average height of my sister and I did not exactly meet their standards, we were expecting the bad news that we didn’t want to come out of the coach’s mouth. But at the same time praying for the good news we craved so badly. “Let’s go, Lauren.” I said to my sister in a shaky voice.! “Let’s do it.” she replied in an identical tone. We slowly walked up to the small table and were prepared for whatever the coach was about to say to us. Slowly, I sat down in the cold seat; my eyes only focused on one thing: the coach. Just one glance into her eyes and

I knew. The outcome was not going to be good.

She opened her mouth and began saying, “Lauren and Caitlin, you two are amazing and talented athletes. Your hard work and passion for this sport is something special and when I say that, I honestly mean it. Unfortunately...”

That one little word stabbed right through my ears so badly that I couldn’t help but wince.

She continued, “You two will not be playing for United this season. I’m sorry girls.” She had just hurt my sister and I so immensely, and she knew that because her own eyes started tearing up. I could feel my throat tighten up and I knew what I had to say to her.

“Thank you... for the opportunity.” Saying those few words was the breaking point for me. Tears started to roll down my face and at that moment, I didn’t care how disappointed I looked because the words that I just heard had given me the worst feeling I have ever experienced.

“I do have a club that I think would be a great option for you.” Tears came down her face, too.

“Colorado Momentum Volleyball Club would love to have you two as part of their club.” She continued. “They offer a great program and I think you guys will love them as much as they will love you.” At the time, I didn’t care about what she’d just said. I was focused on how we were possibly going to get through this.

“Thank you.” I could manage to get the words to come out, but my tone was very uneven. I stood up, my legs feeling like they were about to give out, and walked out of the gym. For what seemed like the longest time in history, Lauren and I cried and cried until finally we were out of tears. We were not able to shake our disappointment off, but later that day, we went to the Momentum Volleyball Club open house. It was right when we walked through the door of the gym that we met our future coach, Michael.

“Welcome, what age?” he asked.

“13’s.” my dad replied with a smile.

“Perfect, I will be coaching the 13’s this season.” he said happily. His hospitality already made me feel welcome and as the day went by, I gradually thought about United less and less. I finally realized, United never gave me what Momentum is giving me in the

first five minutes. Feeling a little better, I continued discovering what Momentum had to offer. Later, I discovered they have so much more that United. Hospitality, hard working, fun, competitive, and all of the little things along with that that made such a big difference to me. Since the conversation earlier, I actually felt happy.

“This is the club for us.” I said to Lauren.

“You’re right, they are the better option.” she said, relieved that we had found the club that was right for us all along.

We left the gym for the second time that day, but this time was different than the last. This time, I really felt like we had found where we truly belong. The place that we would learn to live and love for the rest of our life. The place where we would meet our second family and get to know them and be a big part of their lives. Colorado momentum volleyball club. I finally said the three words I had been searching for for a long time.

“This is it.”

Life’s a Lesson

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FELICITY SAMANIEGO IS A

HUMAN BEING JUST LIKE

YOU. NO MATTER HOW

AWESOME SHE IS SHE

LOVES MUSIC AND

DANCING IN THE RAIN

JUST LIKE EVERYONE

ELSE

FELICITY SAMANIEGO

Some of my genius...

SIX WORD STORIES?

BROKEN PENCIL. THE STORY IS OVER.

THE APOCALYPSE OF THE WORLD WAS YESTERDAY

MURDER, SHE WROTE. SORRY, HE REPLIED.

TIME HAS STOPPED. OH. BROKEN CLOCK.

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A Penny For My Thoughts

I was so excited when I heard the news. He’s coming home, he’s coming home. These words rushed through my mind. Finally, my brother was coming home. My parents had told us that on Saturday my brother was visiting. We were going to go out to eat and see a movie. All I cared about was the prodigal son, my older brother, was coming home. Not for good of course. He had made that clear. He wouldn’t ever live with us again. Michael was out on his own. An adult with his own responsibility. Did I think he was ready to be on his own? Absolutely not. An addict. A gangster. A drop-out. A brother. Everything he was just made it harder and harder for him to go through life straight. But he was still a brother.

Every time he screwed up he ended up back where he was safest. The big house. The can. The fridge. Jail. But God must have been looking out for him one way or another because he was always bailed. Michael always had a second chance. A second chance he’d blow off with a mistake.

Michael was smart, hilarious, nice, opinionated, and had potential for a perfect life. But he was so many other things he shouldn’t have been. Weak, addicted, doubtful, irresponsible, and easy to manipulate. He hung with the wrong crowd and that’s how he ended up doing the wrong things, being in the wrong places, being the wrong person. But I couldn’t help still loving him. He was my big brother. He taught me things about the world. He told me not to worry about boys. He looked out for me and my siblings. He just couldn’t look out for himself.

Saturday made me excited. I couldn’t wait to see him again. Tell him about school, ask for advice about guys, exchange jokes and puns. I missed his imitations of people, his deep voice, and his talent for quoting movie lines which I

had picked up over the years. Today would be awesome.

Sitting in my room texting and listening to music, I waited. The doorbell rang and Max started barking. Three girls yelled, “MICHAEL!” and raced down the stairs. I bolted down the stairs.

Michael was already sitting on the stairs waiting for us. His three little sisters landed beside him and tackled him in a hug. He held us all tightly like he would never let go. I knew when he hugged like that he had missed us.

When Michael finally let go I got a good look at him. He seemed to be the same big and broad brother I remembered from months ago. But his hair looked different. He had grown a nice short beard and mustache which I found very amusing. His once spiked up style was now half short half draped over like that rockstar Crybaby. It looked cool.

About half an hour later my parents and Michael came home from the store. We all rushed downstairs to see him again and help with groceries. As soon as I reached the bottom floor I sensed something was wrong. Trouble always managed to reach me before I reached it. I saw the stoned expressions on my parents face. The familiar aggravated and furious look in my brother’s eyes.

I went up to him and tried to lighten the dark mood hanging in the air. As he unloaded somethings from the grocery bags I joked with him. Michael looked up at me and said, “Mom and Dad and I are in a fight right now so don’t get in the way.” He met my eyes with that stay-out-of-it stare. I backed off. I remembered the last time I had try to come between a fight. It didn’t turn out well. My parents and my brother were always fighting. Why wouldn’t they? He never did anything right. But I dreaded what could be the problem this time.

The family went about the house doing chores and helping with things cheerfully but the tension

hovered. I braced myself for the final words that would reveal what caused the storm in my parents and brother’s eyes. And the words came. Along with the painful sinking of my heart.

“We’re having a family meeting in the living room.” My mom called from downstairs, her monotone voice not revealing any enthusiasm. I reluctantly dragged myself down to the couch. My little sisters sat beside me. My other older brother, Alex, on the chair. My older sister sitting on the arm of the sofa. Michael sat by the fireplace but the only flame was in his eyes.

My family was covered in sullen expressions. We just stared into space. Waiting for the first words. Waiting for them to tear the silence. Into the last strand of love we had. To tear and strip away the last heart string that was holding Michael to his home.

The Last String Tied To Home

JuliaJoy Sanford

more than ten years. I will remember it forever. It taught me never to judge someone by their religion or race or anything. You have to accept that everyone is different. When jews had to hide, everyone was keeping secrets, but now all religions are accepted. The Hunger Games changed my view on the world. I realize that war is a really bad thing and it is not necessary most of the time. Now I want the whole world to stop having war and just to have peace in the world.

As a writer I have learned a lot. I have learned how to be creative in and outside the box. I also learned that it is harder to be creative inside the box because you’re limited. Being limited, you engage in your creativity. I hope that my writing can be exceeding expectations in school or at least average in the gradebook. I used to repeat myself a lot in my writing, but now I can be creative with my words and have my writing sound more fluid. I hope to change some people’s mind with my own words. If I ever see a problem in our school or our society, I hope that I can create a persuasive enough paper or essay to convince someone to change something or add something. Being a writer you learn many good lessons that you will need for your whole life.

Go the extra degree. Be optimistic.

About the Author

I’m Julia Joy Sanford and I was born in Liechtenstein. I have lived in Switzerland, Massachusetts, and Colorado. My favorite animal is a dog, specifically a yorkshire terrier. I love to do puzzles because I like the feeling of accomplishment. I am a strong dancer who tried out for poms in high school; I am happy to say that I made JV. One physical feature that I like about myself is my blue eyes. No one else in my family has blue eyes. I am sad to say that I am shy. I talk to my friends in a silly way, but I don’t talk to the class that way or speak up very much. I hope to be more outgoing when I go to high school. Being on the poms team will help because I will already have a set of friends. My best friend is my sister Hope. We do everything together and she inspires me. I also love listening to music. My favorite song artist is Taylor Swift and I love country music. I am easy-going and I just try to avoid drama and live life to the fullest.

I have read many books in my life. One of the few books that has impacted me is Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. I will remember it for more than ten years. I will remember it for

My sister Hope and I.

She is my best friend and I miss

her at college.

Have to Smile

If you are a dancer,You know competition,and sticking together,

and performance,and following directions.

At a competition, you use these.If you are a dancer,You know passion,

and flexibility,and pain,

and perseverance.To be passionate, you feel these.

If you are a dancer,you know fun,

and choreographyand freestyle

and styleTo have fun you have to smile.

Poetry

Six Word Stories

Simple beauty everywhere. Just look around.

Dreams are wishes your heart makes.

Pom try-outs all day. Results: JV.

Harry Potter

Hunger Games

2971 Wyecliff Way. So many memories flood to my mind when I hear that street. I used to live with my mom, dad, brother and sister. I always had something to do. Two of my friends lived right down the street. My cousins, the Bishops, lived down the street also and school was in walking distance. I have so many memories from my childhood.

Claire Caldwell was my first friend when I moved to Colorado and my best friend. We did everything together. We had sleepovers, jumped on the trampoline, played on swings, and went to the park. We did anything we could think of doing with a best friend. One of the most fun things we did together was roller blade in the garage while listening to Hillary Duff.

We were each other’s bus buddies, and we rode the bus to school together with our favorite bus driver Benny. He was always giving us treats and even came to our talent show in elementary school.

With my cousins a short walk from my house, I walked over there any time I wasn’t with Claire. My littlest cousin, Bradley who is 10 now, was my all time buddy. He is short and his head looks like a mushroom. Aside from coming up with obstacle courses and relay races in the backyard, playing Roller Coaster Tycoon had to be the best thing we did together. My older cousin, Paige who is 18 now, always played the Sims with me. She is a funny and crazy person that fits right into my life.

It is now 2012 and it has been two years since I have moved out, and I don’t do any of the things that I did then. My friend Claire moved to Nevada; I haven’t seen her since. I really miss her, but she hasn’t told me when she is coming to visit. I see my cousins occasionally

like special occasions or when my sister wants to drive over to their house. Time flies by. Now, I am busy with homework and activities and I wish I could just go back to that street and have nothing but fun. I miss not being able to go to my cousins’ house whenever I please. Now, I don’t hang out with my friends very much. Since living in my Wyecliff house, I have moved three times. I don’t remember most of my childhood.

My two siblings, Hope and Ryan, both went off to college. My brother left four years ago. I cried when he left and missed him terribly for a while, but my sister was still there to keep me company. My sister and I are best friends. She tells me what to wear, helps me with my homework, and helps me fight Bowser in Super Mario on the Wii. My sister left last year, and it has changed my life tremendously. My mom and dad are keeping me up on my feet even if I can’t decide what to wear. My siblings changed my life by going to college; I see them very often, and I’m learning to live without them. I will never stop looking to them for advice.

I hope to revisit all of my lost memories by going back to the places they have happened. Even listening to an old song or smelling an old smell reminds me of memories I have had. On Christmas one year, I got some gum and lotion. Now, when I taste the gum or smell the lotion it reminds me of the great times my family and my cousins had during the holidays. Going to specific places where I did a lot of stuff also reminds me of the things that I did there.

Recently, I’ve been watching old home movies from when I was born. My mom and I get cozy in the basement and try to stay warm. We bring space heaters,

comforters, and pillows. My brother and sister looked out for me when I was little as I have seen in the videos. I was born in Liechtenstein. That is where the videos began. I moved to Massachusetts before I even turned one! I don’t remember Switzerland, but I do remember my house and street in Franklin. All I was thinking when I watched the videos of myself was man I was cute!

“Mom, is this what you did while Hope and Ryan were at school? Film me?” I asked my mom.

My mom replied admittedly, “Pretty much. You were adorable. At two years old, you were singing Shania Twain, dancing, talking, and pointing to your body parts when I asked you ‘Julia, where’s your nose?’ and replying ‘I don’t know’ when I asked you ‘Julia, what’s in the bag?’ You were the star on my camera.” After hearing that, I laughed.

I wanted to keep watching myself, wishing I could actually be there. Watching myself learning new things reminded me of today. Today, I am constantly learning about grammar, history, math, science, health, and even people. Once you start to learn, you never stop no matter how hard you try.

My life has been changing a lot since I have moved multiple times, and it will continue to change as long as I live. I might still be living my childhood, but as it goes on I keep learning. I learn to take in whatever is thrown at me and not let any moment go by without enjoying it or capturing the moment whether it is a good thing or a bad thing or even a sad moment. Nothing ever stays the same. Memories are something that you continue to make and will never forget.

Childhood Memories- Julia Sanford

There is no such thing as a “perfect society”. All Utopias try to be perfect, but it isn’t perfect enough for the people who live there. Those people think that they are happy, until they figure out what they are missing. Utopias will usually do more good than harm for many reasons. Utopias usually have a set of laws or rules that cannot be broken. If they are broken, there are consequences. In different Utopias there are different consequences. For example, in The Giver, Jonas took and apple and was tossing it with his friend, and his consequence was public announcement and he had to apologize. When Jonas was a Four, he said that he was starving. He says, “To say ‘starving’ was to speak a lie.” (Lowry 70). He is not allowed to say such a strong word. Also, in Ella Minnow Pea, when a letter falls off of the statue, you are no longer allowed to use that letter in any way. If you

have already gotten a warning, then you get a second warning, but three times and you have to move to the states. Laws in a Utopia can make people want to change the law or sometimes leave that town. In Utopias, the people are impacted and have no choice to change it. In The Giver, Jonas is negatively affected by his Utopia. He got the job of the Receiver and had to suffer pain and anger while everyone else in the community was living pain-free. In Ella Minnow Pea, Ella had to come up with a sentence with every letter which forced her to try really hard, receive real-life experiences, and challenge herself. In a letter from Tassie to her mother, Tassie says, “Nate is no longer with us.” (Dunn 111). A close person in their life had to leave the island. This was a devastating leave because he was helping them to save the letters on the island. Ella got a positive affect from her

Utopia. Utopias have negative and positive affects on the people that live there. A perfect society is an unreal idea. The Utopias The Giver and Ella Minnow Pea are just stories and no one could make that happen no matter how hard they try. Jonas knew that the people could take the pain and had to, so the society was no longer a Utopia by giving the people the memories. Ella came up with a new sentence, “Here is the sentence you require, ‘Pack my box with five dozen liquor jugs.’” (Dunn 201) so that the rule of taking away letters would be banned and people could come back to the island. Utopias are a figure of imagination. Even stories about Utopias will try to get rid of their Utopia by changing laws. There are negative as well as positive effects from Utopias. There are rules and laws that aren’t wanted to be followed. People will do better without Utopias.

Utopias- Julia Sanford

Poetry and Short Work PageSIX WORD

STORIESEAT. SKATE. LAX. EAT. SLEEP. REPEAT.

STEPPED IN DOG POOP. MY LUCK.

DREAMS CRUSHED. HOPE LOST. HATE SUCKS. Poem

Youthful and TruthfulYoung and FunPoetry can be for anyoneBut if not for you Maybe for meLets have some funAnd party

About the Author... Hi my name is Will Secor and I like to party with Koala Bears. I think I am a lot like a koala bear cute, cuddly and funny. I was born in Englewood Colorado on a beautiful summer day. I have two sisters, and two half brothers. My sisters are 15 and 27 and my half brothers are 26 and 24, and I am pretty close with all of them. Something that is unique about me is that I play lacrosse, and I have played it since I was in 4th grade. Also I really like to work with my hands, and build stuff. Another thing I like to do is skateboard. Going to the mountains is another interest I have, when I’m up in the mountains I enjoy 4-wheeling, fishing, and shooting guns. One book that has really impacted my life are the magic treehouse series, because these books really made me start reading at a young age. I think I will always remember those books. A book that has changed my view of the world is Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Meyers because it gives you a look of what the world looks like during a war and from a different location then America. Another book that I

really enjoyed was Hatchet, because it gave me a look of something that hasn't been familiar to me and it made me appreciate what I have and general necessities. Personally I used to not like writing but over the years it has grown on me because with everything you do you have to write, and I feel I have gotten a lot better at writing. As a writer I have learned that sometimes when you write you have to think

in a different point of view. In the future I would like to continue working on writing stories and other pieces, also I hope I can continue playing lacrosse. I hope that when my life is over I branded the world with my name in one way or another.

Featured Writing...

In the rest of this litmag you will read about a response to a book, a poem, a couple six word stories, and a piece about how America is changing.

WILL SECOR

A #2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere. Joyce A. Myers

by Will Secor• • •

“America is getting softer then left out butter.” This phrase is from an article by Rick Reilly. This cluster of words really makes you think, is America really getting softer? I think that we are. It’s ridiculous, that in some states/ counties dodgeball is getting banned or outlawed, and the reason why it’s getting outlawed isn’t even that good. To me, dodgeball is just a game that shows who is more of an aggressive, go for the win, player; or a player who is going to be more timid, let the others do it, player. Also dodgeball is a life lesson it teaches kids that there are winners and there are losers. When this happens it shows a person what there is going to be when they grow up. Also this will help the kids know how to react to the situation. Dodgeball if you think about isn’t just a game it is something that will help and prepare you for life.

This isn’t the only reason why America is getting softer. Some kids when they apply for jobs are having their parents do it for them; and if they don’t get the job their parents call and fight for their child’s job. That problem is not good because they are just being babied and being a baby is definitely soft. Dodgeball is just another example of America getting soft.

America is getting soft. When I was littler I would play dodgeball all the time. It was the best thing ever. Everyone would try to stack the teams so your team would dominate, or you would be on different team so you could play against your friends. But now i realized no one ever got hurt except for the occasional head shot, and those don’t hurt for that long. This was one of the games of my childhood and now it can’t be

played in some schools? This is ridiculous and it needs to stop.

The country is getting soft. I’m not sure if this can be fixed but it can at least slow down a little. The way it will be fixed is we have to just stand strong and (this sounds bad )be a little less caring. I see this being the only way we can fix this problem. But I think that this task is achievable.

America is getting softer then left out butter. But we can fix it by a few easy steps. We need to just toughen up. Do you want to be soft, do you want your country to be soft? Then we have to come together and fix it before it’s unable to be fixed.

This piece is about how America and people in America are changing.

by Will Secor• • •

Lying Lying can create a big pickle like Michael did, whatever you do don’t lie it, like he did by not telling anyone that he accidentally killed someone. This is like when i put a hole in my wall. If you lie you can most likely get away with it for awhile but eventually you will get caught. When i put the hole in my wall my mom believed that that my skateboard just fell and made a hole. But after awhile I slipped up and said i got mad and threw it at my wall. So lying is working write now for Michael but he will most likely slip up and tell someone or the wrong person. This novel tells us that lying can get you into something that isn’t that good. In “Swallowing Stones” after Michael lies once there is almost a snowball effect type deal. By this I mean when he told the police that the gun used to shoot off the bullet that killed the man got stolen. Which worked for him at first but eventually when the cops searched the property for the gun they found the bullet casing instead which was basically as good as the gun. Because that shows that a gun was used and the same type of bullet that killed Jenna’s father was shot off. So this shows that lying works for awhile but you will eventually get caught one way or another.

As you can see lying is never good because you will always get caught. Michael got caught lying and he had to pay the price for it. When I lied about the hole in the wall i got caught too, and I got in some trouble for it. So don’t lie cause you will get in trouble and it will not be good.

This piece is a real life response to a book.

About the Author... I’m Ivy Sklenar-Murphy, I’m 14 (and a half) years old, and was born somewhere in South Elgin, Illinois. Maybe not, I can’t remember, I was a baby. Something sorta unique about me is the fact that I don’t ever wear shorts to school, because shorts suck. I’m almost always happy, despite what most people think. I like camping, drawing, and video games. I dislike people that typ3 l!k3 th!$ or lik dis. Grammar was invented for a reason people. Use it. I hope to eventually inspire enough people that I’m remembered when I die.

I don’t really have a book that impacted me, but I will forever remember Inkheart. I always thought it was a great book. Its what I read when I’m freaking out, because the imagination put into the book just calms me down.

As an early writer, I really only wrote poetry. It was really revised and reserved, because I cared about how neat and organized it was. Now I have more a “Screw it” attitude. I like to just write. Write anything to get out how I feel. It doesn’t matter if I looks nice, sounds nice, etc. I think writing has to come from the heart, and if it’s

overworked, processed, and censored it’s not any good.

As for the future, I have not a clue what I want to do, where I want to go as a writer, or any of that whatnot. I’m planning on just going with the flow, and seeing where it leads me. I hope to write something important, that people will remember, like Robert Frost poems. As for impacting society, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen, but hey, if It does, I want to show people that it’s okay to be

who you really are, and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. All that matters is your own opinion of yourself. Be unique, stick out like a sore thumb, inspire. The only thing I fear in the future is... Ah, I don’t know. Nothing for right now. With my new skills I will conquer the world as a Grammar Nazi, striking fear into the souls of those with terrible language skills.

IVY SKLENAR-MURPHY

Not short, Fun sized!FAVORITE QUOTES

“Abstract art: a product of the untalented sold by the unprincipled to the utterly bewildered. “

“After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music. “

“Whatever you do, Don’t let go.”

“Life ins’t about waiting out the storms. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”

Words slink from the page! dancing around my head!

delivering the authors letter"

They whisper in my ears#Keep reading!$ they say

#We have things to tell you$

I obey!eyes %ashing along the yellowing paper!

eating the words! devouring them!

I begin to piece together the plot!shoving the jigsaw back together!Characters seem to come to life!

I want to replace them!Live in the town of mystery! that never lets them down!

I can smell the fresh rain!that came just a moment ago!in this beautiful dream land!

The conclusion!so unpredictable! so unique!

It keeps me guessing up untill

The very end"

by Ivy Sklenar-Murphy• • •

• This was the beginning of a story for NaNoWriMo. I never

finished it, but the first paragraphs are pretty cool.

I was running. I was running and he was behind me. I could feel his !eyes on the back of my neck, and i could hear his footsteps, close behind. Wind whipped in my hair and branches tore at my clothes like grasping fingers. He was almost upon me. A crow cawed and took flight as I sprinted past. The air was heavy and dank with fog that flooded my mouth and seeped into my lungs, choking me and making it harder and harder to run. I was losing ground. A twisted root poked up from the ground like a twisted gnarled hand, reaching for the denim of my jeans, aiming to bring me to the dirt. I leaped over it, not seeing the river until I was encased in its currents. The water bit its frozen teeth into me as I struggled to surface. The angry water pulled at my arms and legs, trying to hold me in. I surfaced briefly, only to

be struck with another horror. He was reaching out to grab me. I felt fingers clamp around my shoulder. It was too late. I woke up suddenly, drenched in cold sweat. My jet black hair was pasted to my face and knotted down my back in messy strands. My heart was pounding so hard, it felt like I had run a marathon. I hugged myself, my hands shaking. It was the third time this week I had that dream, and it ended the same way each time. I couldn’t remember the river. I couldn’t run fast enough. I always got caught, and I never found out what happened next. Just thinking about the possibilities made my skin crawl and the hair on my arms and neck stand up like an angry cats. The worst part was; It never felt like a dream. I got up out of my bed and looked in the mirror hanging on the wall nearby. Luckily, when I turned on the light and looked in the

reflective surface, Juniper Wolfe was looking back. My hair was ratty and my green eyes were ringed with blackish purple bags that stood out against my near-white skin. I sighed and looked at the clock. 5:59 am. Great. I couldn’t go back to sleep now.. I jumped as my alarm blared as loud as it could, and I quickly smacked the switch off. Grumbling like an old man, I brushed through my hair, pulling it back into a loose ponytail, and stomped down the wooden stairs in my black shorts and bright blue shirt, looking like a hungover 80’s exercise enthusiast.

Wake Up

by Your Name Here• • •

• This was just a commentary on Destiny. :D I like it.

Destiny or fate is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the cosmos. In other words; Destiny is someones life that is preplanned for them. Does destiny really exist or is everything in our lives just completely random? Think back to that one second when a friend drove by at the exact instant you looked up after getting coffee. Now dissect it. Had you, perhaps, not stalled by the side of the door to look at a flowering plant on your porch, had you not taken 5 minutes to get gas on your way to the cafe, or stopped for a moment to make conversation with a neighbor, or looked up as you walked out, you would not have seen said friend pass by. The moment would be lost, never to happen. So, if you had been a second late at any time, you

wouldn’t have even realized they were there. Now my question is; Why did you see them at all? If even a seconds difference mattered, why did you manage to find them here and now? Is everything in our lives preordained and we just don’t know it? Are we following the stepping stones that someone else laid out for us? While watching a movie, you always hear “It’s your destiny.”or “The path is already made for you.” In my opinion, we all follow an indirect path with many branches. You start in one way, but decisions you make in life aren’t predetermined, so as you move along you diverge from the original path and in some cases begin your own. There is no life without decision. Like if you were hunting, but the split second before you shoot a bullet into a beautiful buck, you decide not to. Or if you are in a desert, you can choose to lay down and give up, or you can scratch S.O.S into the sand and hunker down for the night. You can choose to live, and to let other

things live, and those are the ultimate decisions we have to make. Think about life as a big tree. The branches of trees are crooked and bent, sometimes reaching for the sky but bending to the ground. Like a bonsai tree, you can cut and prune it into perfection, you can force it to be a certain shape, but it’s unnatural. So what is destiny? Is it real? Do we make our own fate or is it pre-laid for us like stones in the mosaic of life? Can we choose how we end or is it already decided? All we have to go by is dictionary definitions and clever thinkers. So what is destiny? Destiny is the inevitable or necessary fate to which a particular person or thing is destined; one's lot. Once the lot is cast, even if the dice are loaded, one can not pull it back, and that is the quintessence of destiny.

Destiny

About the Author... I, Jason Trichler, was born in San Francisco, California. I am a world traveler during the summer, and I have also ridden an elephant in South Africa. I enjoy soccer, basketball and track but try to avoid cleaning my room. I that one day this writing will reach someone smart and intelligent like me.

A book that has impacted my life has been the Bible. I continue to use it to make decisions and take sides in an argument. It has had an amazing affect on how I view the world. I continue to hope that my influence with this book remains noticeable in my everyday life

! My journey as a writer started out in kindergarten when I wrote a poem for my Dad and to be honest it was about the worst piece I’ve ever written. I then progressed for there to paragraphs and the to multiple paragraph stories to this biography. I have learned that writing is a way of expressing myself, telling a stories or getting a message across. I used to not appreciate writing I found it as a

waste of time in Languages Arts that could be spent reading. I have not only change my attitude toward writing but also my writing style, adding more voice and more of myself into each writing.

I hope is that I will have the opportunity to go skydiving. My fear of this is that the parachute won’t deploy. Another hope that one day my thinking skills will be shown through my writing. I plan to voice my ideas

and opinions while still keeping an open mind to new possibilities. This will allow me to be more helpful to society, than working just by myself.

This is a blanket we

got for my

grandparents.

JASON TRICHLER

Quote“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” -David Brinkley

Featured Writing...•Real account of Jason

Trichler’s summer break

•Letter of great importance

•Comparing Utopias

Poetry and Short Work PageSix Word Stories

Track and Field: Run, Jump, Win

Party, Drink; Drive, Crash; Irreparable, Damage

Language Arts class means... nap time!

Asleep at eleven, wake up tired

Six word stories suck with 7 words

I’m born, I live, I die

first date, go home, its born.

being a father was so stupid!!!!!

Limericks, they have to rhyme.

And people rhyme all the time.

The hard part is this.Making a poem that

consists.Of ideas than can rival

mine.

On vacation, swimming in

Mexico

Haiku's about Soccer

Start of the kickoffAnticipating the gameMy nerves are on end

My team has the ballWe are advancing the field

To attack the goal

The ball changes feetA struggle to recoverTime to play defense

Watching the offenseStep to intercept the pass

Find the open man

Now, my job’s not doneTime for me to make my run

To receive the ball

The ball at my feetI have my defenders beat

Time to take a shot

I have scored the goalVictory is ours to hold

The joy of soccer

By: Jason Trichler

My Summer Break

Over summer break my family and I went to Canada to spend time with my grandpa and to build my future house. We had been discussing this for a while about how my dad wanted to invest in land in Canada. His excuse was that it could be me and my sister’s future house when they die. So Sydney, my younger sister, was all for the idea because she believes she’ll get the house, and with the help of dad, convinced mom not an easy feat as I might add. So my grandpa who has sixty year of experience in construction and is seventy-six years old, offers to build the house. And my mom who has been joking around about my Opa’s death for years clearly thinks that he’s going to die building this house. You might want to know that Opa is German for grandpa just so I don’t confuse anybody. But in any case this new decision has mom and dad thinking that if they're going to follow through with this they might as well do it right. So they book us a flight to Canada so we can visit our grandpa and so they can see how the house is coming along and to help build it. And before I knew it I was on a flight to Canada. The trip was great! I mean airplane flight can only be so good but as far as comfort goes it was golden. After we arrived it was quite a drive to Opa’s house not to mention the building sight. And when we get to the building site the first and second floors are already finished. So we get to put up the third floor and roof structure. The only problem is that we have people who can work but have never done construction in their lives. This poses the problem of people who are placing things wrong, not supporting something right, and just standing when they should be doing something constructive. Not to add to our worries but my grandpa doesn’t use a crane to put up roof supports, so he’s hanging out the window trying to nail up a ten foot by twenty foot triangle while were holding it in place. Plus the whole time my mom’s yelling at Opa talking about how he’s going to die. But after we got the outer supports on the rest of

the time was just putting in the smaller supports and fitting them into their pre-made slots. So after it looked like we did a lot of work when we put in very minimum effort. But after that we went home, and prayed that my grandpa doesn’t die before we finish the house.

UtopiasSocieties are dependent on

the people that live there. This is because people strive to create a better society and life is constantly changing in the view of the person. To create a perfect society would be impossible because the person searching for a perfect society would never be content with what they have. This is why the idea of creating a utopia falls short of peoples expectations because it has never happened. For this reason utopias come with the price that they are not very successful. Over time peoples ideas of perfection change. This makes it very hard to form a utopia if the people in the society consistently change their minds, it is hard to form a perfect society. This happens in The Giver where Jonah believes that they live in a perfect society, until he sees that they kill people if they are released. This affects his idea of a perfect society making him no longer want to live in the utopia. When you try to make a perfect society, it usually causes suffering to one person or a group of people. This is always true because it is almost impossible to make everyone happy. “The training required of you involves pain,” the chief elder stated this to Jonah when he was chosen to become the receiver). What

one person or group of people like another will dislike. This prevents a society for becoming perfect and being a utopia. No matter how hard the government tries to please everyone there will still be people who will disagree with the current way of procedure and try to fight the system, like Jonah and Katniss. Utopia are attempted to be arranged because of a negative experience affecting the person or government. Utopias don’t try to create good, they just try to prevent the bad. This is why the people trying to create or live in the utopia are never satisfied, because they will always be able to think up another situation where things go bad, and thus they will try to prevent it.This also means that these people who try to create utopias won’t be happy, they just won’t be sad. To be happy they will have to undergo some type of risk. As shown in The Giver even the slightest bit of joy like sledding down a hill comes a certain risk. This is why in trying to protect themselves the person has taken away the joy that is found in life. In trying to create a utopia there is usually one person has to be put in danger or pain for the benefit of others. In The Giver Jonah does this and Katniss does this in the Hunger Games as well. It even says in the hunger games “I want to show them I’m not just a piece in their games”. This shows that not everyone can be happy in a society. In the attempt to create a utopia people have always run into the problem that some people will not like it. This is why when it is attempted to make a utopia it affects almost everyone in a negative way because those people have to see to some means how it affects the person and will dislike that this pain has to occur. This is why most attempted utopias are failed. Utopias are a imaginable concept. It’s almost like someone trying to reach the end of a rainbow. Because of human nature it is almost impossible to be satisfied with what is given to a person. So people try to create a better society. And once they do that they try to search for a better society, until they reach a point where they ruin their society because they a trying to accomplish something out of reach. Utopias usually end up as a dis-topia which is why learning from them is essential to enhance society.

Non-fiction writings

By: Jason Trichler

WAR ON FOOD 10590 Mountain Vista RidgeHighlands Ranch, CO 80126September 28, 2011

Mrs. Shepard10590 Mountain Vista RidgeHighlands Ranch, CO 80126Mrs. Shearpard:

Good food is essential for a great healthy life. Everyday in the community food is impossible to live without. We are taking away the very nutrients that keep us going during a regular school day by the food choices that we are putting in the school. There should good food, in the choices and unhealthy foods should be banned. This would ensure that people would make the right decisions in eating. Overall people would be in better condition and this would have a result on many things within the school. People would start excelling more in physical education and may want to try out for a school sport. Students would be more focused from the lasting nutrition given by healthy food. Healthy immune systems might even be an effect of this new change which means that students will get sick less often. This is a problem that should be looked into and eventually over time become fixed.

On way to change the type of food, students eat would be to gradually change the type of foods students can pick from during lunch. This would make it so that the students could over time become accustom to the new food. The schools do not make the students fat but the school food does influence the choices that the students make in everyday life. This method for changing the school system probably would be a less effective way to change the student eating habits but it would mean that there would be less complaints from students and parents. This would make the change easier for everyone but wouldn’t have as much effect on students heal.

The second solution is to change the foods served during lunch all at once. By replacing all the unhealthy food with healthy food immediately the students will be more likely to change the way they eat outside of school as well. This would result in a better overall welfare for the kids than the first solution but would not get as much support for the program. Changing the food in this way would be hard but eventually would have a better effect in the end.

Both solutions would achieve the same goal but depending on how you want the school to react would determine which is the best way to change the type of food served in the cafeteria. This is a choice that will make a difference in the whole school by changing the focus that the students maintain and affecting their overall performance. The school needs to give more healthy food to ensure the welfare of the students and make the school a better place to learn.

Sincerely,Jason Trichler

Fixing the Harrision Herald

10590 Mountain Vista RidgeHighlands Ranch, CO 80126September 28, 2011

The Harrision Herald1560 BroadwayHarrison, NH 78654

Dear Editor,

The article you wrote “Suspended For Patriotism” about the incident involving Philip Malloy at Harrision high was lacking some important information that is overly influencing the public’s thinking. Philip complains about his right to sing the national anthem in class. The school does not deny Philip the right to sing when it is play over the sound

monitor, but he does so in a disrespecting way to the county and his fellow students.

Philip was a disturbance to the class on March 28 Philip sang the national anthem quietly to himself Ms.Narwin asked him to stop and he stops.On March 29 during the same morning announcements Philip again begins singing loudly but when he was asked to stop he refused because he felt he had to stand up for his rights. This is bending the truth because Philip doesn’t care about his right to sing the national anthem he just wanted to annoy Ms. Narwin. Then on March 30 Philip sang the national anthem in a loud attention-drawing manner which was distraction students from completing their daily morning exercises. That was why he was suspended.

If a student get two infractions in one week it is a district rule to suspend them. This is what earned Philip his suspension. Philip is not trying to be patriotic he was just being a distraction to the class. He was doing this to try to get back at Ms. Narwin for giving him his class grade a D for his incapability to focus and work in a timely manner. This grade made him incapable to try out for the school track team. This being his main activity outside of school, not being able to compete makes him take out his lack of discipline on Ms. Narwin. Students from Philips class are able to justify that Philip has been causing a tension between himself and Ms. Narwin, a teacher who all the other students can seem to get along with. Philip has brought this punishment upon himself and the school has no rule against singing the national anthem but a rule against being a disruption to the class.

Please take this into account,Jason Trichler

Opinionated Letters

READ.WRITE.THINK.REPEAT.