An Exciting Weekend

This weekend I had the most important Science Olympiad competition of the year: Regionals. If we don't do well here then we won't make it to states. At the awards ceremony I felt like I had thousands of butterflies in my tummy! I could not wait to get the results. Unfortunately I didn't place in Air Trajectory, that was because we didn't recalibrate our device before the competition started. In Entomology I thought I would would do horribly, because the test was vary difficult. When they are calling out 3rd place my heart sank. "And the first place winners for Entomology are… Birmingham Covington Middle School!!!" I could not believe it! We won first place. Vivian and I were the only two people to win 1st place on our team. In Crave the Wave, I knew I would do well: we got 3rd place. Overall our team got 7th place. I am very proud of what I did.

After the competition my mom and I drove straight to Boyne Mountain Ski Resort. We arrived there really late. The next day I skied for 4 hours. My dad and I skied some of the hardest and longest hills. When we got back home I went straight to bed!!!

Detective Ania

AHW Thursday: I made this up

    "This case is closed said Judge Roberts." Everybody shuffled uncomfortably in their seats. "But, we never unmasked the murderer of Sir Joseph!", the juror, Megan, called out. "So, the suspects we have are Shin Be and Niyathi…" I told them as I stepped out of the shadows. I was the greatest super sleuth, spy, de-coder, detective, officer, I was Ania of the BCS Dx association, (Big.Crime.Superlative.Decimating.Xamples). We were… let me reword that I am the best at solving problems and cases. 

     "Excuse me, but it seems as if you are getting the clues from the wrong direction," I said. Judge Roberts was infuriated, "You have no authority here, but, speak your opinion." I showed them my BCS Dx badge. Everyone in the court room had their eyes peeled on me. I noticed Doctor Megan and Aria glare at me. They are Shin Be and Niyathi's lawyers. 
     Doctor Megan cleared her throat, "Excuse me… Detective Ania of so-called BCS Dx, do you contradict the Judge Roberts' decision?"

"No Dr Megan, I am not! It's just that who ever you hired must have gone what I call crazy, let me speak with them."

Judge Roberts cleared her throat, "Order in the court!" she glared at me. "How dare you interrupt my courthouse… you just appear from the shadows!?"

"Well actually it is part of my contract for BCS Dx to appear from the shadows…"

TO BE CONTINUED

Flower Time Poems

Lovely Floral Haiku:

~

Roses can be red

Violets are blue, grown for you

And I love you, too

Pretty Flowery Twaiku:

~

All flora is beautiful

And forget-me-nots

Lillies and lavenders, too

If you do not know what a Haiku or Twaiku are then I will tell you. Both are Japanese styles of poetry. This type of poem is generally associated with nature. A Twaiku is the reciprocal of a Haiku in mathematical terms. Here are the patterns:

Haiku:

(Line 1) 5 syllables

(Line 2) 7 syllables

(Line 3) 5 syllables

Twaiku:

(Line 1) 7 syllables

(Line 2) 5 syllables

(Line 3) 7 syllables

Literary Essay

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. (A galaxy spiraling to earth) Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, (Heaven and Fire) not our Darkness, that most frightens us.” Marianne Williamson helps us understand that we are poweful, and we are able to overcome our own challenges. Auggie is constantly being judged and discriminated my his physical difference (someone being judged). An important idea is the support he gets from his friends and overcoming obstacles in life. In "Wonder"by RJ Palacio, Auggie keeps asking himself the question, "How will I get through school?" I can't imagine what it is like to be Auggie! So, Auggie was always homeschooled, and now he has to go to school. People will judge him and worse, in the end he makes a lot of friends. Marianne Williamson would want Auggie to stay strong. This story tells us the challenge Auggie has to face. But mostly, "Wonder" is about overcoming obstacles in life to grow.

Throughout the story, Auggie faces many obstacles in school. He is like a captive zebra, in a herd of wild horses. Like the zebra, he was babied, and different, but still heading in the same direction and with the same roots. At first Auggie struggled to accommodate to his new life. I guess he just didn't know what to expect! For example, on page 37 in the second paragraph the Palacio writes, "I still kept my head way down… no one sat down next to me." This excerpt shows that Auggie didn't know how to handle getting through his normal school day, yet. And what made it even worse was that no one would sit next to him! Can you even comprehend how that must have been for Auggie?

Also in the story, Auggie gets constant support from his few friends and family, they help him grow while he overcomes obstacles. He is like a newborn eagle stranded in his nest. Like the eagle, Auggie doesn't know how to metaphorically "fly", he is stuck in his own world, and overcomes his own difficulties. For example, on page 267 the first and second paragraph the author writes, "Yo, dude… and we started walking over to Amos." This shows that people do really care about Auggie, because in this excerpt the most unlikely people- Henry, Miles and Amos- come and help out Auggie when the other kids were bullying him. But Henry, Miles and Amos also bullied him at one point. Why did they help him? Because they cared. They used their strong "wings" to help him fly. That proves that Auggie gets support from his friends. So he grew to become stronger.

By the end of the story Auggie has gotten through school and all of the challenges it had for him. Not only has he overcome obstacles but he has met them head on. These challenges are other kids and classmates, and he has grown to become great friends with them. For example: on page 307-308, Palacio writes, "And the next thing I knew… everyone wanted to get close to me." This shows that all of the people in his class and school have disregarded his differences and now became great friends. Because it is not enough to be friendly, you have to be a friend. Even the"popular" kids came over to him, they wanted Auggie to be in their memories of picture. Like Augie says in the excerpt, "… Everyone wanted to get close to me."

This essay has proven, that overcoming challenges and obstacles makes you grow. And indeed Auggie has grown to a more confident. No more will he fret a school of kids discriminating him. He made it through school! If Auggie decided to continue being homeschooled do you think he would have grown so much? This connects to the real world because we all have to overcome challenges, but sometimes we will need some support doing so. In my life, when I go out on on my own in the "real" world (past college) myself and others will run into problems and obstacles with running our lives. Most of the time those challenges will prepare us for the next one, failure leads to success. But sometimes friends and family will have to help us. Now, as I think of the power of overcoming challenges, I realize that much of what we accomplish in life comes from that and the growth. Hellen Keller once said, "Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."

"I Can Make History" Contest Poem

Contest Poetry

Martin Luther King Jr’s eyes are the sun,

It’s light is not more bright than his heart’s,

If our lights are still lit, then he is not done,

For Mr King, felt hope on other people’s parts.

I have heard many great stories,

Yet Mr King spoke the greatest change,

And he has shared and given many glories,

African American’s life’s will never be strange.

I love to hear him speak, yet I well know,

that Mr King would want my voice to be the sound,

He had, and I hope to, make other’s souls glow,

After all, not all great Lights get to be crowned.

That one spark in Mr. Kings heart turned into a light,

And I have one too, I shall make that light bright with all of my might.

The Silver Clock

Genevieve Kingston sat by the fire in her mother's rocking chair, sewing her dress. It was the year 1873 and humble little Genevieve lived in a poor family. And so gently rocked back and forth humming her favorite hymn. "La da di da! La la la lu la da da di da!" CRASH! A sickening thud sounded from the upstairs. "Bless Me!" cried Genevieve! That sound startled her so, since she was home alone, and had no elder siblings to care for her. Cautiosly the little maiden set down her sewing stuff. Her heart was pounding fast, she tried not to venture into the attic often. Then along came a steady TICK TOCK TICK TOCK TICK TICK TICK TACK TACK CK CK CK! That was the sound of a broken clock. Genevieve knew that sound all too well. For her grandfather Kingston always gifted them clocks, and they all seemed to break after a week or so. But it was rumored that before Genevieve's home was built their used to be a clock smith's  work shop there. So sometimes it was quite scary. As she timidly crept up, clutching her frock in one hand and the banister the other. She then her a howling sound. A chill sent her spine tingling. Then the whole house started to shake, shake, shake!!! The door suddenly flung open to reveal a ghostly light… Genevieve slowly tip-toed to the light, her curiosity took over. Then she grabbed the shining object and all went still. TICK TOCK TICK TOCK TICK TOCK TICK TOCK! In her pale hands lay a priceless silver clock! And for some reason it wasn't broken any more. As she examined it. Genevieve noticed a small inscription on the back,

Property of Locklin Kingston
A Silver Clock, Made August 13, 1756
Please give to my Great Great Great Granddaughter Genevieve
May my ghost live with her

And that was all that it said! Genevieve stood their out of shock, love, fear, happiness and pain. His ghost would indeed live on with her. 

Trip to Mexico

I just got back from my trip to Mexico. Unlike in "Enrique's Journey" (the book), I was in one of the safest parts of Mexico. My family and I stayed at a gorgeous tropical resort on the Yucatan Peninsula. Our balcony overlooked vast garden filled with exotic flowers and beautiful creatures of all sizes, the colorful garden would soon switch into a pale beach at the Caribbean Sea. The water was so calm! I could swim out so far, and I wouldn't feel the slightest tug of any current. I was like I mermaid swimming among the fish. One didn't even need scuba gear to get a good look at the coral reef. At one point when I was as still as stock, the fish all of a sudden swarmed around me. So awesome! I am going to post pictures of my trip later on.