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Moving Isn't The Easy Part

Posted by Israt Jahan in English 3 · Block · E Band on
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Introduction: 

     In my essay I talked about how my life changed when I had to move across the sea to united states. I also talked about the hardships I went through. How I had to adapt to the new nature. My biggest goal in my essay was to prove how hard it is to adapt to new environment  and everyone makes it look easy because they don't want to seem struggling.  I want to improve on my descriptions. Im proud of the part where I tel about my grandpa. 
Essay:
         Moving isn’t easy. I had never imagined moving into a new home when I was little, but moving across the sea to a new place was a bit shocking to me. I’ve always thought that my life started here and it will keep going until I become older, get my own place and have a family. Living in my country; Bangladesh, we had our own house built the way we wanted. It was really our place. We didn’t have to pay rent or anything except for the bills of the house, so we really didn’t have a reason to move to another place. After living in Bangladesh for ten years of my life, I had to move to the United States all of the sudden and it was really difficult. I had to leave a lot of my family members and friends back where I was originally from. All of the memories that I have with my family and friends became distant, and we  traveled  to somewhere with empty memories. 
     The one specific piece I miss the most is a photograph that my uncle got for me when he went to Khulna. The piece of artwork that is on a rectangle piece of canvas, with four black triangles on each corner . The artwork is painted mostly greenish, blueish, and brown radiant color, with some white.From the bottom middle to the end of the right side, there is a wooden bridge that starts and keeps going straight until it turns slightly, It kept going and making it look like it goes on and ner ends.  is’t covered by the dark and light green bushes of wild leaves. It reminds of  the smell of fresh leaves. It reminded me of all the leaves in my garden. The wooden path looks like different logs glued together to make a path for people to walk on. The wooden path would smell like damp wood that kept getting wet by the bluish water underneath of the wooden path. The fresh smell of the water from the small creek that runs, from the center of the right hand side to the half way through the middle of the left hand side looked elegant. The fresh water from the creek made me imagine how it would feel if I cool against my hand. There's another tree next to the creek on the dirt part that seems to be covered with the wild leaf.  The wooden path seems to be capturing the attention when someone looked into the art work. The wooden path seemed that it was  endless. The white color seems to be the bubbles in the water that is running down from the creek.It’s a really special photograph to me. It’s special to me because he specifically brought it for my grandpa when he came back from Khulna. When I saw the photograph I fell in love with it right away. My grandpa saw how much I really liked the painting so Before he died he told me I can have the photograph. That’s the only thing I have left that reminds me of my grandpa. So it’s a really special photograph to me.  He died 6 months after we moved to united states. He was in the hospital when we first came to united states. Not only did we just come to united states and didn’t understand anything but we also had to get through my grandpa's funeral. I remember the time when he told me that I can have the painting. He was lying  on the hospital bed while I was sitting on the chair waiting for my mom to come pick me up. He just woke up from a nap. I asked him “how are you”  He looked at me and smiled and that just made my  day. He than said " you remember the photograph you always liked that your uncle got for me." "Yeah" I said. "Well you wanna keep it" 
he said " you're kidding, I know you like that photograph too , you won't give it to me" 
"you can have it" he said. "Really? oh my god thank you" I almost cried. Then couple of day after that he died which was really hard for my family. Coming to somewhere new and going through this is really hard. 
 
       It was hard moving to a new place that I don’t know anything about this; the new land. I barely spoke any English, so it was hard to communicate with people. When we first landed in New York, we had so many problems talking to people and get through security. Everything was foreign to us and we didn’t know where anything was. It took us 2 hours to get everything together and get out of the airport. Although I did know some words, it didn’t help because it couldn't help me make full sentences nor communicate towards others.
When we moved to Philadelphia, we settled in my aunt's house for 2 weeks. It was hard living in someone's house for that long.  I felt like I didn’t really have a choice in what I was doing there. Meeting cousins that I never met before was an new experience. They spoke English while I didn’t know any, so I basically just listened to them and didn’t know how to reply back to them. 

       Moving to a new country wasn’t the easiest transition in my life. But I knew from the beginning that I had to hold on and let this crazy moment in my life have it’s way. I knew that if I just let life do it’s thing and not worry about everything  that I left behind then I can get through that phase faster. 
   

Advanced Essay #1: Andrew Rodebaugh

Posted by Andrew Rodebaugh in English 3 · Block · E Band on

Introduction:


For my paper I was talking about a scary situation that I was going through this year. I was trying to communicate the fear that me and my family had when dealing with this situation. I hope I was a little funny also in my essay. I think I could have improved on describing a little more like Harlem and Boubou did in their essays.


Essay:


My life is pretty normal… well compared to most people like me. See I have a heart condition a super rare and dangerous one (not to brag). It is kind of complicated to explain but in basic terms, my heart does not include a left ventricle. As you may assume that’s not very good, to say the least. The doctors had to make my right ventricle of my heart to do the jobs of my lazy, non-existent left ventricle which takes more energy and in turn has its own set of problems. Sure I cannot walk up the stairs without wearing out (stairs are tough... don’t judge) and thank God I hate sports because that just does not work out well with me and my heart. But I am rarely unable to do what I want to do which makes me feel really lucky.


   It was not until very recently that I had a problem that was long term that I had to worry about a health problem. See what happened was that I was at my Church’s Bible Study™ with my older brother Will and we were talking and having a lovely time until suddenly my left foot started to shake uncontrollably… up and down… up and down. I had no clue what was going on… my first thought was that either I did not hydrate well enough which was the cause of 99.9% of my issues so I politely asked my brother if he could grab me some water and to text my Mom that this was happening. I tried to do this trying not to cause a big deal out of it. They knew me all my life and they have seen/helped me through this situation so I probably should have informed them that this was happening but of course I would have never guessed how long term this would be. Well, my Dad came to pick me up and he noticed that my leg was shaking so he called Mom to see what we should do. We ended up going home which did not last long so I went to the Emergency Room at around 11 pm (I know thrilling) and stayed at the hospital overnight. That night answered nothing… very encouraging to me.


   The shaking happened almost once a month and before it happens I would get super angry and I would not be myself. I would have a low tolerance for even the smallest things, yelling and stomping. And talk a little too much being honest to people about the things that I was annoyed about relating to them or that moment, in turn, making them really upset with me. And sometimes I would just shut down not being able to respond to other people. I was sent to the ambulance for the first time ever with my blood sugar very low which was the first of many false triggers to what supposedly caused these incidents which were annoying going from specialist to specialist not really listening to me. My fear got even greater about what was going on.


Fear is a weird thing it can keep us alert or shut us down. Make us appreciate things more or make us angry. It can make us faster or slow us down. Fear can be made up or be real. Fear can be exaggerated or not exaggerated enough. It depends on who you are and what is going on. I had a lot of scary situations in my life for me and my parents which they had helped me in life learning more about myself but hurt me at least temporary. This situation was it was a scary situation that I did not know what would happen to me and how serious it would it be.


Now the shaking has died down and I am not as scared as I was before. I stopped being constantly angry at people because I know that they are just trying to help me through life with these situations going on. They still have not figured out why the problems were occurring and may never know. But I feel safe now knowing that people around me will do anything to help me.


Advanced Essay #1: Fear Itself

Posted by Ethan Larrabee in English 3 · Block · A Band on

Introduction:

The goal of this paper was to attempt to analyze the causes of fear and how different people experience it. Fear is a big part of my life and I wanted the reader to really consider how they deal with their own fears. I'm most proud of my descriptive language. It provides a nice cover up for the actual writing and analysis, which I feel needs a great deal of improvement.



Fear is an extremely powerful force. It can motivate people to do things that they never thought they could. It can be used to manipulate people into acting against their own self interest. People tend to think of fear as something negative. They see it as an obstacle to overcome. These people want to control their fear, which can lead to them taking massive risks. Other people use their fear as a crutch. They allow their fear to control them. Ideally, people should find a healthy balance between these two extremes. However, everyone has unique experiences with fear that constantly evolve over time, causing their perspective to change.

When I was younger, I was quite an adventurous child. I would spend most of my days outside or running around with friends. I was also quite accident-prone and would injure myself on a pretty regular basis, amassing a marvelous collection of bruises and scrapes. But, it never stopped me. One day, while playing with two friends in my backyard, one of them proposed that we climb the massive pine tree that sits at the back of the yard. This, of course, was a horrible idea. I had climbed plenty of trees before but never one this tall, mainly due a strong dislike of heights. However, on this occasion I decided to “face my fear” and I followed my friends up. That, of course, was a horrible idea. The ascent was long and arduous. Needles clawed at my face while sap adhered itself to every available surface. Undeterred, I pressed on. I was doing surprisingly well until I reached a large gap in the branches. As I paused, I made a fatal error. I looked down. I froze as my legs locked and my hands attempted to asphyxiate the branch upon which all of my hopes lay. I slipped suddenly, hanging from one hand. For a moment, all was still. Unfortunately, my hand betrayed me, sending me plummeting towards the ground.

I would never even think of doing something like this today. I am terrified of heights and it’s just not worth it. Honestly, I wouldn’t have done it then unless my friends were there to encourage me. People in general are afraid of being left out. It’s in our nature as social creatures,

and that can cause us to do ridiculous things like climb giant trees or more dangerous things with more severe consequences. These opposing fears are at constant war with one another. On one hand, one is afraid of the risk. On the other, one fears missing out.

Despite this, facing one’s fears is sometimes beneficial. Fears can be irrational, such as a fear of public spaces or a fear of birds. They don’t have much of a basis in reality and more in our own suspicions. However, we have them anyway because our brains concoct these odd fantasies to rationalize our suspicions and to reinforce them. That bird isn’t going to fly down and peck your eyes out, so you make up a scenario in which it does and convince yourself that it’s true. These fears are shaped by one’s personal experiences. In my experience, I don’t like leaving the house. However, it’s kind of unavoidable. So I try and face this fear by going for long walks in the woods alone.

One chilly winter afternoon, I was on another walk. I had been out for a while, exploring the meandering trails. I was so absorbed in my own thoughts, that I didn’t notice, the sudden lack of light until it was too late. Sometime during my walk, the sun decided to clock out early. I quickly turned around and tried to outrun the dark, to no avail. The night closed in and I was lost in the darkness. I stumbled blindly down what I thought was the path for what seemed like an eternity until the ground fell out from under me and slid down into oblivion, only just avoiding the half frozen river and a guaranteed case of hypothermia. At this point, the path didn’t even exist. I sat next to the water to pick up the pieces of my brain, eventually finding the will to use my legs again. With no other options, I followed the faint reflection of the moon on the water and hoped the current would take me in the right direction.

As if it isn’t obvious, I made it out alright. Even though this happened, even though I already didn’t want to go out in the first place, I still walk in the woods. An important aspect of fear is that there are two different kinds of fear. There are rational fears, like heights or bears, and there are irrational fears, like leaving the house or staircases. One must recognize that some fears are to be faced and others are to be acknowledged and respected. Bravery is not a complete disregard for fear, it’s the ability to tell the difference between a rational and irrational fear. I’m not saying I’m brave for walking in the woods a few times a week, but that is my own way of facing an irrational fear. When one finds the middle ground between blatant ignorance and crippling neurosis, then one can move on.

Advanced Essay #1: Art and Approval

Posted by Jayla Wright in English 3 · Block · A Band on

Intro

For this paper my goals were to show the perspective of me wanting to have an art career with the approval of my family. I also wanted to include more reflections and avoid having a passive voice. I’m most proud of the descriptions in my story since I put a lot of effort into creating a clear image of what I was describing. To improve in the future I would add more reflections and include another memory to make my message easier to understand.


Art and Approval

When I was in elementary school my favorite subject was art. I’m not sure what drew me to it. Maybe it was the ability to brush my feelings onto paper or perhaps I enjoyed the feeling of pastels smudged onto my fingers after working on a piece. Pastel crayons were one of my favorite mediums to work with. The crayons were soft and velvety, making strikes and swirls across the page almost effortless. Pastels not being stiff like other mediums allowed for more unrestrictive expression.  

Every year my school had a grade by grade art contest and show. Each grade got assigned a medium to work with for the contest and my grade at the time was assigned pastels. My mouth found itself turned into a grin at the news. This would be an opportunity to beat Reagan, one of my classmates who not only won this competition every year but the yearbook cover contest as well. Winning the competition this year would not only prove how serious I was about art to my teachers and classmates, it would also show my family that this was passion they needed to support.

I decided to not plan my art and to make it up as I go. I turned a light blue pastel onto its side and rolled it onto my paper causing splotches of blue on the paper. The patches of blue with the off-white paper peeking through reminded me of the sky minutes before a downpour. I then knew I wanted my drawing to be scenery of nature. Using different shades of brown pastels I made a smooth mound in the bottom corner of the page that represented the ground. On the bottom of the page, I created a lake that was a slightly darker blue than the sky and had gentle ripples on its surface. I finished by creating long strokes of different shades of green onto the ground, forming blades of grass.

Weeks later after I submitted my work I found myself at the art show with my parents. My grade’s art was posted on a hallway wall. In the center of the wall was a piece with the winner’s name under it in bold letters: Reagan. Disappointment uncoiled inside of me. My dad noticed my enthusiasm turn sour and put his hand on my head while looking down at me.

“Well… yours was my favorite.”  My heart beamed at his words. Although I lost the art competition I always won my family’s support and I knew I could count on them for approving my life choices.

My family always knew I liked art. They never blinked an eye at me taking art camp over the summer or me continuing art as an elective in middle school. They didn’t even flinch when I said I wanted to be an artist when asked what did I want to be when I grow up. When I put my words into action, that’s when they got nervous.

I was in the backseat of my dad’s car. The road was clear for the most part with the exception of a stray car here and there. My dad, deciding he could give some of the attention he was putting towards the road to me, turned down the radio and looked up into his rear view mirror.

“Have you given any thought as to what you want to be when you’re older?” My eyebrows furrowed in thought, although I already knew the answer.

“An animator.” I said it with no hint of a doubt slithering into my words.

“Oh, so you want to work on Disney movies?” My dad was taken aback. This was the first time my answer to this common question changed from “artist” to “animator”. It was becoming clear that I was becoming more determined about pursuing an art career. The more it became transparent that my passion wasn’t just a hobby the more worried my family got for my future.

“Uh, well I wasn’t thinking working for Disney exactly.” I ran my hands over the grooves of the car door in thought. “I really want to make a cartoon one day and maybe work at Cartoon Network.”

“And how will you do that?”

“There’s a college called CalArts that I’m interested in.”

“CalArts? Where’s that?”

“California” There was a pause before he spoke.

“That’s so far away… are you sure about this?” I hesitated before my answer. This was the first time I was unsure about my art.

“Yes.” That was the end of the conversation and my dad’s attention returned back to the road. I knew he was only worried for me, but I was not yet familiar with my plans for the future being met with doubt. From there on I questioned my love for art and how far I was willing to go to so I could pursue it. I proved to my family how serious I was about art but in exchange, I received uncertainty in my life choices.


Advanced Essay #1: Sleep tight

Posted by Rebecca Snyder in English 3 · Block · E Band on
Introduction: Sleep tight touches on the ideas surrounding childhood. This piece is meant to make the reader think about changing perspectives through growing up and the things that alter excitement. This idea came from writings of scenes from life, where I instantly started to think about the things that made up my childhood experience. The two scenes that were chosen were some of the immediate scenes I thought about with how adults comfort us, and then the change to where we need the comfort of adults to decimate self consciousness. I’m proud of how the scenes loosely connect to the theme I was trying to build in abstract ways that make the reader think. As far as areas for improvement, I wish I could’ve gotten my ideas out more clearly in the conclusion to fully make the theme translate to the reader.


Sleep tight

I woke up christmas morning of first grade and snuck down the stairs at 6AM. I carefully took each step in order to not cause a creak, which would wake up my parents. With a thump, I saw my brothers curls peak through the darkness. A light flashed as my brother turned on his little blue flashlight to reveal the outline of everything in the living room. He scanned the room with his light and stopped in the center. The line of light revealed the wooden toy market that was at the top of my wishlist. I couldn’t help but let out a screech. We scurried over to the market, pulling out the small green containers in the front where toy food would sit.

“Where’s the food?” asked my brother.

“Flash it towards the back,” I replied.

My brother flashed the light on the back of the market to reveal boxes full of toy food. We immediately unpacked the boxes and poured them into the green containers. For the next hour we played with the wooden food kits that velcro together and cut apart.

A nice toy food breakfast was prepared for our parents. Soon after, my mom walked slowly down the stairs just having woken up.

“What are you guys doing up so early? And already opening your presents?” she asked.

“Mama we made you breakfast!” I gave her a smile that filled my face.

“Oh hunny thank you.” She responded as she pretended to gobble up what we had prepared.

I was so excited that my mom had enjoyed what we made for her. The simple childhood innocence of the belief that she would always be happy with our play, when as I look back I see the how adults play along with the innocent fun. In reality, she would never act like she disliked what we had made. As more growth occurred this innocence grew up into more self consciousness and inability to enjoy as many of the smaller things.

My mom walked to the left corner of my room and switched the light off. She then walked towards my bed and pulled the sheets to my shoulders, kissed me goodnight, and said,

“Goodnight, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

“But Mama what if they do bite?”

“Then you call me up and I will scare them away.”

“Okay, stay outside my room until you see that I fell asleep,” I

replied in fear that my mother would leave me alone before I fell asleep.

I felt my eyes getting heavy and my body start to relax. As soon as my eyes fully shut, my anxiety set it and I shot straight up from my bed.

“Mom!”

I heard her voice lightly assure me that she was still there. Then I could relax and rest again. As soon as my eyes fell heavy and closed again, I heard the hallway light switch off. My body jolted up once again,

“MOM.”

Her voice arose again and assured me of her presence. At this point I was so tired my body fell right back into to my bed. Once again, my eyes fell heavy and this time stayed shut through the night.

This feeling of fear in falling asleep alone lasted until 5th grade, when I finally realized my mother would never leave me alone in the house and that she couldn’t scare away the bed bugs any more than I could. My anxiety surrounded the innocence of not wanting to be left alone because I wasn’t big enough to fight whatever might come in during my sleep. This fear was influenced by more self consciousness as I had grown up from the cloud of enjoying every small event.

Childhood, comfort, innocence, growth, all often come together. New experiences for a child enable growth out of comfort. As a child grows, they often embrace it as “I’m a big kid.” This growth decimates the innocence. The innocence we as older people often long for. The innocence that enables enjoyment in all of the little things we still wish we could enjoy. The ability to be free with comfort and others are elements of childhood that we look back on and question the ability to receive again. The ability to be free and comfortable with ourselves is an ability few possess past childhood.  This is the comfort of childhood, where your ideas and actions are always sweet, and not an annoyance. This comfort doesn’t grow until our ideas could be shot down. The ability to look past self consciousness and into self comfort is an ability many of us wish we continued to possess. It’s an ability I wish to still posses.


Advanced Essay #1: Pittsburgh Vacation

Posted by Alex Lee Chan in English 3 · Block · E Band on
​Introduction: My goal of the paper is to write more than I usually do, the part that I am proud of is the third paragraph, the areas for improvement in the future is the reflection.

Pittsburgh Vacation

This past  summer, I went on a trip to Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is also a city in the state of pennsylvania located just west of Philadelphia.This trip was a summer camp which focused on giving the campers an introduction to civil engineering as I have an interest in this area. 

I received the information about this camp from my ILP program. After finding out more information about the camp and the program, I told my mother about my interest in this program and how I wanted to participate. My mom was very happy that I wanted to join the summer camp in Pittsburgh because she wanted to go to Pittsburgh for a long time.  My brother was also interested in the program too. After speaking to her, she gave her permission for me to register for the camp. We decided we would go to Pittsburgh together. My big brother would go with us as well.

The camp that I joined in Pittsburgh was about a famous architectural building called “Fallingwater”. Fallingwater is a house that was designed in 1935 by an architect named Frank Lloyd Wright. It was designed in the modern and organic architectural style.Fallingwater is surrounded by a forest with a river going under the house. The house was built with no air conditioning, but it had an opening to the river under the house that was used to let the natural wind come into the house. The most different thing between Fallingwater and American houses are the windows. The windows in Fallingwater are much bigger than the normal American house. Fallingwater makes you want to go outside rather than stay in the house because of the beauty that surrounds the house.

The summer camp was 7 days long. We planned to arrive at the Pittsburgh three days before the start of summer camp. We arrived early to allow us to explore this new place. We traveled there by Greyhound bus and it took approximately 51/2 to get to our destination. The bus experience went well until one of the windows in the bus broke, but we still arrived to our destination safety. After we arrived, we took another bus to get to the house we would stay for three days. We then went to the nearest store to buy food for dinner and came back. The second day, we went to The Andy Warhol Museum, and to a restaurant to eat our lunch. After lunch, we went back and wait for next day.

The first day that summer camp started, one of the teachers picked us up drove us to Fallingwater. It took 1 hour to from the place we were staying in Pittsburgh to get to Fallingwater. After we arrived, my mom joined a tour to Fallingwater and  after the tour she went back to the place she was staying. Then I went to the meeting place for the summer camp, which was High Meadow, our living place in the summer camp.  The first day of the camp, we introduced ourselves to each other.   All of the students were in grades 10 to 12 grade.  At Fallingwater we draw some scenes with all of our 5 senses. We drew a scene outside the Fallingwater and one in the inside. The outside scene is a road that was covered with green plants on two sides.  The inside one that I drew is of a living room inside of  Fallingwater. After we finished drawing, the sky was turning dark, so we went back to the High Meadow to have our dinner.

On the second day, we went to a workshop which is near the High Meadow to make glasses. We needed to make the glasses using paper. The teacher taught us to sketch before you started making any item. The glasses that I made was a pixel MLG glasses, was based on a video game. Then we went back to Fallingwater once again to draw the outside of the Fallingwater right after our lunch. Since this is a civil engineering summer camp, it will involve a lot of drawing, especially drawing architecture. After that, we had an activity where we needed to make a shelter for an 1 inch big bear figure in the area of the road that I drew in the first day that can protect from other animals. We only got 1 jund of sticky, and you could get material around us like leafs, sticks, rocks… so I built a shelter in the middle of two big two rocks, I use some stick to hold in the under of the house.

On the third day, we went to Norman Robert Foster’s 1900s living place where it has become a museum, Norman Robert Foster is the person who designed the HSBC Building.  We had a tour guide who explained everything about the house. After that we headed outside. It was an open place where we needed to draw again. We stayed there almost the whole day.

In the fourth day, we started at some paperwork, we needed to draw and measure some square-based 3-D shape, the teacher taught us how to drew it in 2D and 3D in the paper. Then we drew a fruit that chosen by teacher and I got a pepper, we needed to drew the top, the side and the cutted side after our lunch. After the dinner, we went back to Fallingwater to got an idea in there for making the concrete in the next day.

In the fifth day, we made our own concrete the whole day, every persons’ concrete was in a cuboid shape, so my design was making a square hole in one of the corner of the cuboid and in the middle of every square hole, there had a cuboid column in it. It liked making the concrete by your own.

In the last two days we had a project that we redesigned an small open area to a photostopping spot that it can take in the rainy and snowy day, it’s like a small shelter, my design was making a 45 degree ceiling to let the rain pour it in one way and four cuboid column in each corner of the ceiling, we have the time for design is a whole day. Then we presented the whole summer camp in your own work and experience with all your assignment to the director of Fallingwater.

After the summer camp, my big brother and I took greyhound bus back to philadelphia and go back home. I have a really good experience in this summer camp, because engineering is my favourite things and the experience in the summer camp, it will be useful for my future.

Advanced Essay #1: The Fall of a Giant

Posted by Messele Asfaw in English 3 · Block · E Band on

  My goals for this paper are that people read this and go, "wow that taught me something interesting." I want the reader to feel as if they learned something from reading this essay. I feel as if the parts that I think will achieve this, and the parts that I am proud of are the description part. The description part and the story part compliment each other part. However, regarding the reflection part of this essay, I don't feel like I did too well on. This is because I always had the thought that the reflection was up to the reader to interpret, and I think that made me less interested in writing that part.

Falling down from what seemed like an immeasurable height. It seemed like the end for me. This would ruin my whole day. Gravity was David and I was Goliath. So you’re probably wondering how I got into this situation. Well it all started in the autumn of ‘17.

“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!” said my alarm clock. This morning was as ordinary as every other morning this week. The early morning sunlight creeped through the windows in my room enveloped by darkness. It was nearing my favorite time of year. Winter. It was still autumn however, meaning it got dark early and late in the day, but it was also hot and when it rained, it was humid. Disgusting. I hated that feeling when it rained and it was hot. That’s why I’m more of an inside person. Inside, you didn’t have to worry about dying because there are less things that could kill you. You didn’t have to worry about weather because you were constantly incubated inside of an air conditioned or heated house.

The contents of my room rarely changed. A mahogany wardrobe that held almost all my clothes. A bookshelf with 5 shelves full of books, all of which I’ve read. A wooden desk which I’m pretty sure was made of fake wood, and on top of that, a computer. Oh, and of course my bed which I was sleeping on. I had a very comfortable bed, to say the least. My bed sheets were made of a material which I did not know about, so I cannot brag about how good it is. It was very soft however. This made it difficult to get up out of bed, and often times I would stay in bed for an extra 10-15 minutes. To combat this, instead of waking up at 6 in the morning, I woke up at around 5:45. The top most bedsheet was just a blanket, with a giant bear on it. Sort of like a portrait of a bear, but it looked directly at you. I called it the bear blanket. The bear blanket was a gift, and a curse.

“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!” exclaimed my alarm clock, yet again. At this point in time, I had decided that I would wake up and stop being a lazy bag of meat. I went through my usual morning ritual of taking a shower, brushing my teeth, making my bed, and of course, wearing clothes. As I recheck everything I need for school for that day, I start to zip up my plain white book bag. I go downstairs and start my trek through the front door. One foot steps forward. Another follows in it’s wake. My calculations were wrong. My footing was off, and one of my feet slipped forward in front of me.

“Oh golly, oh my!” I thought to myself, in the short time I had. I was now falling. I tried grabbing for anything around me to stop me from falling, but the snowy white railing was not doing it’s job. Or at least I didn’t grip it hard enough. Falling down from what seemed like an immeasurable height. It seemed like the end for me. This would ruin my whole day. Gravity was David and I was Goliath. Goodbye cruel world. I fell about 2 steps and cried for the rest of the way on the trolley to school. That day I failed my math test.

The importance of what happens to you during the day is honestly one of the most significant things that can influence your decisions during the day. In this current story, the main character goes throughout his day and one fatal event affects his day. The main idea of this story is that whatever influences a person to make a certain decision can have many factors. Meaning there could be a lot of factors and you shouldn’t really jump to conclusions as to why they made a decision. The main character fell down the stairs and this influenced the main characters choices that they made on the math test. As a result, the main character failed his math test. This whole story could be perceived as an allegory representing how people assume other people’s intentions without taking into account other factors. Factors like their personal lives, struggles, and experiences. Those factors and more are what really influence a person’s decisions throughout the day and the choices that they make.


Advanced Essay #1: A Duck on a Pond

Posted by Eric Valenti in English 3 · Block · A Band on
​Introduction:
The goal of my paper was for me to remember and describe what it’s like becoming older and how society and peer pressure changes you. I wanted the reader to remember who they were as a child as well. The child we are can sometimes fade and we forget about them, but at our root, that child is still there. The part I’m most proud of is the symbols I created with rubber ducks and childhood. I could try to improve my reflection but overall I’m proud of this essay. 

A few days ago, I was cleaning my room and under my bed, I found a small rubber duck. I brushed off the dust on the duck, I had forgotten where I got it from or that I even had rubber ducks. The rubber duck is smaller than a pill bottle. It has a paint splatter pattern covering its body, it's not just yellow but covered in blue, red and orange paint splatters. It's so simple in its design and as I looked at it more and more, I began to remember the first time I encountered these bath toys. 
When I was 7 or 8, I went to the movies with my mom, at the time my parents began their separation, my mother was worried that I would become some sort of depressed teen because I’m so young and the divorce would have too large of an effect on me. The movies were my mom’s way to have fun and forget about everything that bothers you.
“We have about twenty minutes until the movie starts, so how about we go to the concession stand and get some popcorn?” my mom said.  I looked up at her and nodded. I followed her with my hands in my coat pockets scratching my fingers against my jacket creating a little noise only I can hear. My mother and I stood in the line, she pulls out money from her purse and begins to count it. I look around the theatre, noticing the flashy design on the fur floors, I see kids running around the small arcade in the theatre entrance. In the corner of my eye I notice a small flashing light, it's coming from a crane game. My mother turns towards me and notices me looking at the game.
“Do you want money to play?” my mother asks.
“Is it okay?” I reply.
“Of course it's okay.” She hands me three crinkled one dollar bills and I walk towards the crane game. The game is a large red box with a banner that says “Winner Every Time” in large, gold, cursive font. I insert the first dollar into the slot. I look into the case noticing the game only has brightly colored rubber ducks in different costumes. I move the joystick over the pit of ducks and press the small red button. The crane delves into the pit of gold and picks up a single duck. I grab the toy from the receptacle below. It's a duck with a cowboy hat. My mom walks over with a small popcorn bucket and two sodas. 
“Good job kid, do you like him?” I hold the rubber duck in my tiny, chubby hands and begin to laugh. This rubber duck looked so dumb and the design was lazy yet it made me happy. I felt warm and safe. I was so happy and carefree when I was younger like nothing could hurt me. I was okay with my chubby exterior and my huge tooth gap. Everything was easy when I was young, I couldn’t hurt anyone or myself. I was allowed to dream as big or as small as I wanted. All I worried about was getting as many ducks as I could.  
I was this little ugly duckling who just wanted to fly and didn’t care about what other people thought. When you're young you're not afraid to show who you are, you're oblivious to society or even know what society is.  When you get older you feel like you constantly need to be in this defensive state because everything is trying to bring you down. You can spread your wings when you're young and fly as much as you want. But then people make you realize that you can’t fly and they clip your wings.
Eventually, I got more and more ducks. They distracted me from everything that was going on around me, whenever I was sad or angry, I went upstairs to my small blue bedroom and pulled out the plastic bin holding my ducks. No worries, no one to impress, the only person to make happy was me. When I was about 11 or 12, toys became lame and kids my age got rid of anything that seemed too childish and I was one to follow the crowd. So, I threw out everything too “kiddie.” The last thing I gave away was that bin of ducks. My happy memories fled from my mind and all I could remember was all the pain I felt. I became this self-conscious teen and kept changing myself even if I didn’t want to. I went into this numb state of mind. 
During one summer, my sister and my mom went to a carnival. I stayed back, fearing to be around too many people, the yelling, and the screaming and having to deal with flashing lights, the very thought made me sick. After a few hours, my sister and my mom returned home.
“How was the carnival?” I asked.
“Basic, it was fun though.” My sister sat on the couch immediately pulling out her phone and began to type away. 
“ I had fun and I wish you came, but we did win you something.” My mom unzipped her large black purse and pulled out two ducks. One of the ducks was the paint splatter duck and the other duck was a white duck with blue snowflakes covering its body. “Hope you like them.” She handed me the ducks, and my slender hands held them. As I held the ducks, these rubber useless toys, I was reminded of the wonder that I once knew. I had lost myself and forgot about this child I once was.  I’m an ugly duckling on his own who forgot how to fly and just remembered how.

Advanced Essay #1: Can we really help someone who is in pain?

Posted by Vivian Pham in English 3 · Block · E Band on

Introduction:

Goals that I had for my paper was to really be able to include all the components into my story effectively and evenly. And to have a balance of everything, the descriptive scenes, reflection, and large idea. I think that parts that I am most proud of would be the whole process of editing and revising my essay. It really changed the whole flow of my essay from the beginning and I think that the improvements that I made, really helped convey my message. Some areas for improvement for the future would have to be to decrease the amount of words that I wrote. I wrote a lot and at first I had 2000 words and I erased and changed it until 1000 and even though it’s way more than the maximum, I still need to improve on this.

No matter how hard I try, I can’t do anything right. Being silent and listening was all that I could ever do. The pain ached from the inside and out, puncturing holes into my heart. The feeling of remorse and sorrow poured out of my body out in the form of tears. I remember that heartstopping moment, it felt like my whole world was getting flipped and tossed around.

I was in history class when I got the text from my best friend, Michelle.

“I can’t stop shaking.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”  I started typing at soaring speed.

“I can’t talk right now.” She texted back.

But I was persistent on getting a response. As time passed, I felt myself sink down lower into my seat.

My thoughts started a violent and gory war in my head, the sword were her words that cut me and the blood were the tears that followed. My eyes stayed glued to my phone.

My friends noticed how I was behaving. They fed me the words that were meant to comfort. I could see the disappointment on their faces when I would look up and ignore them.

“Tell us what’s wrong,”

“What happened?”

“Please tell us.”

Their words went in through one ear and out through the other. I sat there with my thoughts, what should I do if it’s something bad? Am I really her best friend if I can’t help her? I saw my phone flickered on.

“My baby cousin…. my mom called me,” She paused between texts,“H- he’s dead...”

I felt my whole body slowly close in on itself. My jaw dropped and the tears followed and fell down my face with no control. I ran out the door of my class and straight into the bathroom.

I called her and she picked up right away.

“Michelle… Are you okay? I  am so so sorry. How did it happen?” I said, as I thought to myself, should I have not asked how it happened?

“I can’t do this right now.” She said, I could hear that she was crying uncontrollably.

I heard knocks on the bathroom door knowing that it was my friends that ran after me. They were calling my name and telling me to come out. But I ignored them once again.

I knew that whatever I would say to her right now wouldn’t be helpful. It would just be a bunch of words that mean nothing. I gave her as much time as she needed to explain everything. As I sat on the window sill, listening to my best friend and crying.

She was feeling useless as much as I was. Feeling powerless to do anything to help destroys and destructs you from inside out. You feel this automatic anger and hate yourself because you’re not doing your best. You start to shut out everyone who cares about you and start to isolate yourself from who is “trying to help.” The worst part is not understanding and lying. Simply saying the words, “I understand what you’re going through,” can deepen the pain and agony of the person even more. They know that you don’t understand and you’re left with no other option. Can anyone really ever help anyone that is suffering?

No matter what age I was, I found myself in these moments. As a young girl, I wasn’t aware of everything happening around me but I noticed when someone looked upset, or  looked like they were in pain. Like in the sixth grade with my bestfriend, Lyna.

I’ve only known her for 2 years back then, but I knew that the second I met her, she would be one of those friends that I would grow old with. We made plans to be roommates in college together, to share every detail of each other’s lives together, and to dance until we can’t anymore. This seemed like the year where everything would start changing. In the eyes of Lyna, it was a different change, the type that would change her life forever and she wasn’t ready for it.

“I think they’re separating.” Lyna said one day when she walked up to me during breakfast.

“Separating what?” I said, completely clueless.

“Mom and dad. They’re not happy.” She said looking around, hoping no one else was listening.

Not happy? I would think to myself, I’ve never heard of a separation of parents or loved ones, aside from the movies. My mind was glued to the idea that families stick together and love each other endlessly no matter what. “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health..” I truly believed that this was always the case. I told her that her parents love each other very much and nothing will happen. But who was I to tell her that it was going to be okay when I didn't even know myself?

“They aren't the same. They're fighting every single day.” She said to me, as a single tear would run down her face.

“But that doesn't mean anything does it? Parents always fight.” I said with a hopeful tone.

She looked away, disappointed and said with her head down,

“You won't understand anyway. Your family is perfect.”

Perfect? What am I supposed to do with that? My family for one is not perfect. I told her the words that I regretted the second I said it.

“I don’t know what to say.”

Almost everyday, Lyna would come up to me in school with an update about her parents. I would listen but not understand, yet I still tried to. This went on for a few more years until it finally happened, the fear that she grew up with, the nightmares that she wished never came true, did. She was my best friend, she couldn’t do this alone, and she wasn’t alone. Although I thought that all this time, I wasn’t helping, I was wrong. The attempt of trying to help and comfort goes a long way. Having the intentions of extending out a helping hand, the act of doing so makes all the difference. You can never fully cure that damage within but you can apply the bandage and cure it slowly.


Advanced Essay #1: Then To Now

Posted by William Huang in English 3 · Block · E Band on


Introduction:



Then To Now is a story about growing up and making sacrifices. Human nature dictates that people tend to stay with what is known, because they are more familiar and comfortable with the subjects. The purpose of this essay is to show the reader that they are not alone when it comes to making difficult decisions in life. However, these difficult decisions are the most impactful ones, and those who choose to venture into places that few have gone end up accomplishing things that a few have done. I’m proud the scenes I chose and how I made connections between two seemingly unrelated stories. Some areas of improvement are including more description in my scenes and also have more reflection throughout the piece.


Advanced Essay:


The acceptance results were in, and it was time to pick a high school. Everyone else seemed to have chosen their picks, and the deadline was the end of the day. I remember it was a chilly fall day, only weeks into my 8th grade year. 7th grade me feared the prospect of making this decision, but I convinced myself that one year was a long way to go. But before I knew it, there was nowhere left to hide.

The day started with Mr. O’s math class. We all shuffled into class with our belongings, and settled in our seats. As I went to turn in my homework, my friend Xu stopped me and asked if I had chosen my high school. I lied and sat down. When the lesson was over, Mr. O gave us independent work time, and that was when he received a phone call from our school counselor. He then turned to look at me, and signaled me to go to him. “What’s holding you up from deciding on your school?” he asked. I thought for a moment. “I’m just stuck between Central and SLA,” I told him. I knew most of my friends were going to Central High School. I didn’t want to be separated from them, but at the same time, I didn’t feel like just following the crowd. “Here’s my two-cents,” Mr. O began, “Think about like this: If you go to Central, you will be around this same group of people you have always been with for four more years, and will remain relatively the same. But if you go to SLA, you will be forced to meet new people and learn, grow, and change.”

I took his words to heart. On the outside, Mr. O may just be a math teacher, but he often shared his life experiences with us and taught us how to be better people. I had the utmost respect for him, and his words were the final push I needed to make up my mind. This engagement with him reminded me of  immigration stories my parents told me when I was younger.

I would be in my room, laying in bed while they sat beside me. My parents were born on poor farms in rural China. In that place and time, everyone had to be self-dependent: people grew their own food, built their own houses, and made their own clothes. The country was poor and they were at the bottom of the social class. My dad told me his strife: how he started taking care of my uncles when he was only 5, had two shirts to wear every year, and even a single bite of meat was rare during meals. When my dad was 25, he decided to immigrate to the US for financial stability to support his family and to provide more opportunities for his children. The Chinese government did not allow immigration to the US, which forced him to risk his life making arrangements with criminal organizations to be smuggled into the US, carrying a debt of $30,000.

It took me many years to make the connection between these two seemingly unrelated episodes of my life. But in many ways, they are two versions of one story—a story of delayed gratification where you make short term sacrifices to reap long term rewards. Just like my dad, I had to make a tough decision in a high pressure situation, and the choice we made would dramatically impact our lives thereafter. I had to choose between staying in my comfort zone where I would continue to be with my friends, or I could venture alone into uncertainty. My dad had to choose between staying with my family back in China, forever having his bloodline chained to poverty and being uneducated, or travel into a land of an unknown language and culture. In the end, I chose SLA. My dad, despite all risks and the idea of traveling so far away from everything he has known and grew up with, made the decision to immigrate. Had I not decided to go to SLA, I would have never realized who my real friends are, never made all the great friends I have today, and never came out of my comfort zone. I would forever remain that introverted boy who would always head straight home after school and play videogames on his own. Had my dad decided not to immigrate to the US, I would not be who I am today. I would never have understood the value of education, the struggles of my family lineage, or been born in a country with far more opportunities and freedom. As the saying goes, “Like father, like son,” we were able to lift ourselves out of our comfort zones to see the long term rewards that a short term sacrifice would bring, and we have never looked back since. Life is not about where you are, but where you take yourself, and if you never venture into the unknown, you will never get more than what you already have.


Boys Soccer Tops Palumbo

Posted by Christopher Lehmann on
by Jorin Gerveni​

On Tuesday, September 12th, the SLA Boys Soccer Team traveled to the South Philadelphia Supersite where they took on the Academy at Palumbo. The game started off with a hard battle in the first few minutes of the game against Palumbo. However, the boys pushed themselves to get a goal, knowing how hard the other team was working. Captain Jorin Gerveni passed to Tito Mazzuchi who dribbled to the end line and scored from an impossible angle, shocking both teams. 

The second goal came from a penalty which was given to freshmen Tristan Dini who got tackled after an incredible run. A defensive mistake caused Palumbo to score to close the gap to 2-1 but SLA did not give up. The defense, led by William Figueiredo and goalkeeper Leo Cassel, continued to fight and stopped Palumbo from equalizing. 

Three more beautiful runs from Jacobo Pastor, Dalnick Matos and Ashton Reigner penetrated Palumbo's defense which put SLA ahead 5-1. The rest of the game continued calmly as the team played the best soccer game of their high school careers. 

The team is now 2-0 on the season, and the boys are excited for a strong season. 

The team wants to wish our captain Malachi Johnson a quick recovery from a concussion as they are preparing to take on Tacony Academy Charter School. Let's go Rockets!

Open House

Posted by Elizabeth Menasion on
Attention Prospective SLA Families!
Join us for SLA Center City's Open House on Wednesday, September 27th at 5:30PM.
If you would like to set up an interview at SLA or a shadow appointment, please call the office starting on 9/18 between 9AM and 2PM

Welcome Back! Schedules for 9/5 & 9/6

Posted by Marcie Hull on
​First Day of School - Tuesday, September 5th 
8:15-10:10   Advisory
10:15-11:00 E Band (e1)
11:05-11:50  Y Band (y2)
11:50-12:35  X Band (x2)
12:40-1:25  A Band (a2)
1:30-2:15    B Band (b2)
2:20-3:05    C Band (c2)

Second Day of School - Wednesday, September 6th
8:15-9:00     Advisory
9:05-9:55     D Band (d2)
10:00-10:50 E Band (e2)
10:55-11:45 A Band (a1)
11:50-12:40 B Band (b1)
1:20-3:30     ILP (Juniors & Sophomores), Capstone (Seniors)
1:20- 2:30    Activity Fair (Freshmen) 
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
8:15–9:20 A E D C B
9:25–10:30 B A E D C
10:35–11:40 X Y A X Y
11:40–12:45 Y X B Y X
12:50–1:55 C B 12:50–1:20
LUNCH		 E D
2:00–3:05 D C Franklin Institute /
ILP		 A E
3:10–3:50 Advisory Advisory

SLA Fall Athletics Pre-Season Information

Posted by Sunil Reddy on

All players are required to have the completed medical paperwork on hand to give coaches. Access the medical paperwork linked here.

All incoming 9th graders will have the opportunity to sign up for sports on noon following the end of Summer Institute on 8/24. More details on other pre-season activities can be found below.

  • Girls Volleyball – Coach: Karina Hirschfield, khirschfield@scienceleadership.org

    Returning Student Tryouts: Tuesday, Aug. 15th, 3:30-6:00pm @ Lloyd Hall, 1 Boathouse Row. 9th Grade Tryouts: Wednesday, Aug. 23rd, 3:30-6:00pm @ Lloyd Hall, 1 Boathouse Row

    All students must bring required sports physical paperwork, knee pads and plenty of water to tryouts and conditioning. Conditioning runs from 3:30-6:00pm every day until the regular season begins.

  • Co-Ed Cross Country – Coach: Amal Giknis, agiknis@scienceleadership.org

    Pre-season practices begin on Monday, Aug. 14th, from 5:00-6:30pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays until school starts. Runners should meet at SLA.

    All students must bring required sports physical paperwork and should wear comfortable clothes and running shoes.

  • Girls Soccer – Coach: Zoe Siswick, zsiswick@scienceleadership.org

    Pre-season sessions on Wednesday, Aug. 23rd @ 1:00pm, Thursday, Aug. 24th @ 1:00pm and Friday, Aug. 25th @ 9:00am. All gatherings at 31st and Chestnut Street.

    All students must bring required sports physical.

  • Boys Soccer – Coach: Mark Johnson, majohnson2906@gmail.com

    Pre-season practices and tryouts are on Monday, Aug. 21st and Wednesday, Aug 23rd at 4:00pm and also on Friday, Aug. 25th at 10:00am. Practices are held at the Lee Rec. Center located at 44th Street and Haverford Avenue.

    All students must bring required sports physical.

  • Ultimate Frisbee – Coaches: Christopher Lehmann & Stephanie Sessa, clehmann@scienceleadership.org & ssessa@scienceleadership.org

    New student recruiting begins on Tuesday, Aug. 22nd following Summer Institute. The group will leave from SLA to travel together to Penn Park at 30th and Walnut Street.

    All students must bring required sports physical.

  • Students Run Philly Style – Coach: Jeremy Spry, jspry@scienceleadership.org

    New student recruitment does not begin until the spring 2018 season.

Girls Soccer Tryouts

Posted by Zoe Siswick on
​Girls soccer tryouts and practice begin next week!

We will meet Wednesday, August 23rd and Thursday, August 24th at 1pm and Friday, August 25th at 9am at 31st & Chestnut.

Please bring water, shin guards, cleats and an up to date PIAA physical (or plans to get one soon.) 

Contact Coach Siswick at zsiswick [at] scienceleadership [dot] org for more information.

Girls' Volleyball Tryouts

Posted by Aaron Gerwer on
Girls Varsity Volleyball tryouts will take place on August 15th from 3:30-6:00 pm at Lloyd Hall located at 1 Boathouse Row, Philadelphia, PA 19130. For incoming 9th graders, tryouts will take place on Wednesday, August 23rd from 3:30-6:00pm at Lloyd Hall. 

Make sure to bring a PIAA physical, knee pads, lunch, and plenty of water. Conditioning will continue everyday from 3:30-6:00pm until the season begins. Contact Karina Hirschfield (khirschfield@scienceleadership.org) for more information.

Cross Country Season Begins!

Posted by Amal Giknis on
SLAXC
The 2017 Cross Country season begins this week! Practices will be on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays from 5-6:30pm until school starts.

Please come to SLA with your completed PIAA physical, comfortable clothes and shoes for running, and a bottle of water to stay hydrated.

Contact Coach Giknis with any questions: agiknis@scienceleadership.org

Class of 2021! Summer Institute

Posted by Marcie Hull on

Seeing Ourselves/Seeing the City
An Expedition into 9th Grade 

August 22rd – August 24th - 9:00 am – 12:00 noon - bring a lunch

At the Science Leadership Academy, we understand that the transition into High School can be a difficult one. We are pleased to offer a three-day Summer Institute this August, to ease that transition and allow our students and faculty to begin forging bonds together as a learning community – before the “hard work” of the classroom begins.

Led by faculty and upper-class students, this three-day orientation will have two goals, the first is to begin the process of bringing them into the unique, diverse SLA community. To that end, students will spend part of the time in their Advisory Groups, getting to know the students and teachers that will be a part of their community from their first day at SLA through graduation and beyond.

Second, the week will be built around our philosophy of student-driven, hands-on, project-based learning. We want to introduce our students to SLA’s core values of Inquiry, Research, Collaboration, Presentation, and Reflection from the start, and get them acclimated to the high expectations we have for their high school careers. Using The Franklin Institute and other Philadelphia sites as their “classroom,” students will begin working to explore a variety of questions and problems relating to their surroundings and their place within it. Our students will practice the art of “seeing in new ways” as it relates to the process of observation, analysis, and interpretation.

During Summer Institute, students will work to ultimately create a collaborative project to present to their classmates, while, at the same time, establishing positive relationships and a sense of themselves as first-year SLA students. It will be an exciting, enriching, and energizing way to gear up for the year.

See you in August!

Philadelphian Food Deserts

Posted by Simon Voituriez in English 1 · Giknis · A Band on

Philadelphian Food Deserts

 

Hi! During my last two posts, I talked about the food access in Philly. In my first one,I explained how social this issue was and how hard it was for someone who lived in a disfavored area or someone who didn’t enough money to get healthy food. In my second blog post, I commented the survey that I sent to people. All in all, I was nicely surprised by what the people told me because I actually thought the situation was even worst.

 

While doing more researches, I discovered really positive changes and actions in Philadelphia during the last couple years. The most relevant for me was a man named Jeff Brown who built big food stores in food deserts, like North Philly. For more information, you can click on that link which will lead you to a very interesting video that is describing this process. For me, this way to change is just the best, the most accurate and also the more logical: how to fix food deserts problem? Just build a food store! This helps a really big amount of people and is one of the best solution to this problem.

At the beginning, I didn’t know what I was able to do for my Agent of Change, but Ms.Giknis gave me a good option: giving a map in a Philly food desert with all the grocery stores near them on it. IMG_8050.JPG

This is the kind of spots that were present in this area

 

I went to a North Philly area with literally nothing around. I gave my papers to people in the streets while smiling. Most of them accepted my paper and asked me more about it. Although, I had an issue: nobody wanted me to take them in picture, I don’t even know why, they probably thought I was doing tourism because I have a pretty strong accent and I don’t live here. I still took picture of the place. Besides this problem, I really felt helpful and I knew that I was making a change happens, so this is probably the most positive fact about this entire project: we are useful!

I think that I made a change because while giving them this map, smiling and explaining what was my project about, I’m pretty sure that some of the people remembered me and were aware of my issue. Also, they knew if they didn’t already where were all the healthy grocery stores near them.

 

IMG_8059 (1).JPG

Me in the area with my maps in the hand, looking if the person is coming to me...

I thought that this project was very good and I am very happy to have completed it, even if this is late! It was the first time of my life where I knew that something related to school was actually useful in a way and was making a difference. I learned that I love helping people, even if I kinda knew it already. I also learned that the people in food deserts are actually just waiting for more help and feel unlistened (even if I expected that too!). I think something I could have done better would be to meet the timelines on time, as always!  

Final Print

Posted by David Hammond in Art - Freshman · Hull · c1 Band on
​My element is Uranium. Its atomic number is 92. Uranium was found by Martin Heinrich Klaproth, who named the new element after the planet Uranus. In 1939, the first proven nuclear fission was performed in Germany. The nuclear fission of uranium resulted in the first nuclear explosion at the Trinity test site in New Mexico in July 1945. Uranium is also used by the military to power nuclear submarines and in nuclear weapons. Depleted uranium is a dense metal that can be used as ballast for ships and counterweights for aircraft. It is also used a lot in creating nuclear fuel. It is also used in ammunition and armour. I got the idea for the glass pretty easily. Uranium glass is very popular. It to me was a reminder that this element can create something extremely beautiful as well. The explosion coming out of the glass was due to the fact that countries learned how to exploit uranium, and turn it into a weapon of mass destruction. The reason why there is a second bomb is a little less obvious, this is because there were two bombs dropped on japan in 1945. I wanted to put this in here because it was really when people saw just how dangerous uranium could be. The last image is the planet in the top right corner. This is because the element was named after the planet. I started of the process by sketching some ideas of how I wanted to present my element. I the chose the sketch that I liked best and traced it as a final sketch. With my final sketch I traced it onto the foam we were using to print. I had to make sure it was backwards so that when I printed it it would come out with the correct orientation. The I took a roller and put paint on it. I then rolled the roller over my foam drawing. We made sure it was 4 by 6 inches and centered in the 6 by 8 matt. Next time I would definitely take more time to print, so that it would come out neater. If I would have done this it would have taken me less tries to get it right. What part of the project did you enjoy the most? Describe the step and what you liked so much about it. The part of the project that I enjoyed the most was drawing my ideas down. I just think that it is so important to make sure that your ideas are fleshed out as much as possible before you move on the the next step. I loved that we had so much freedom in these first steps.
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Laptop Collection - Friday 6/16

Posted by Marcie Hull on

Schedule:

11th -

report to school at 8:15 for college workshops

1:00 - laptop turn-in, in the cafe, then locker clean out

 

9th -

report to school at 9:00 - go to the cafe for laptop collection (find your advisor), then to locker clean out with your advisor

 

10th -

report to school at 10:00 - go to the cafe for laptop collection (find your advisor), then to locker clean out with your advisor


Lead

Posted by Chandrea Lack in Art - Freshman · Hull · d2 Band on
My element is lead. The atomic number is 82. My element is used in your pencils that mainly some people use. My element is also poisonous, but we don’t ever think about eating it. The function of my element is to get the job done and along with that you can use lead in different types of pencils and it is erasable too. My idea kind of just popped up because I thought it would be nice to have a unicorn (eraser) for the mistakes and a pencil at the end to show that pencils are always the way to go when writing something or drawing. The process that I went through was drawing a lot of different ideas to fit my element. If i could do something differently it would be to change where I put the atomic number on my stamp. The part where i was stamping was my most favorite part.

FullSizeRender (1)
FullSizeRender (1)

Final Stamp Design

Posted by Adil Shamsud-Din in Art - Freshman · Hull · d1 Band on
This Stamp symbolizes me because, the letter A stands alone, and i stands alone. the letter a is a basic and simple letter, it's not trying to prove something or stand out with something else. I Adil is never really trying to make someone look stupid, or trying to stand out with someone. the letter A can be put together, and work together with another letter. i can work together perfectly fine with someone. i got my final design really easy, i got this idea because, one one of my friends told me before that i stand out. they also told me that i work together, so that's why i got that idea from. the importance of the negative and positive space of this image is, the Letter A is popping out, and eye catching. i got stuck at where i didn't know if i should have put the border on, because, i did not know if it was important to have.  
IMAG0220 (1)
IMAG0220 (1)