The Builder Poem
I watched them tearing a building down,
a gang of men in a busy town.
With a heave Ho and a lusty yell,
they swung a beam and a side-wall fell.
I asked the foreman are these men skilled
as the men you'd hire if you had to build?
He gave a laugh and said "No indeed,
just common labor is all I need.
I can easily wreck in a day or two,
what builders have taken years to do."
So I thought to myself as I went my way,
which of these roles have I tried to play?
Am I a builder who builds with care,
measuring life by rule and square?
Or am I a wrecker that walks the town
content with the labor of tearing down?
Rick Hoyt Story
I would like to tell you about a builder. His name is Dick Hoyt. When Dick was 23 years old he had a son named Rick. Rick was born with his umbilical cord wrapped several times around his neck and suffered severe brain damage.
Despite being encouraged to put their son in an institution Dick and his wife took their boy home. Rick was unable to speak or control his limbs.
When Rick was 11 his dad took him to Tufts University and they designed a computer to help Rick talk to his family. The first words that he “typed” onto the screen by moving his pupils was “Go Bruins.” This confirmed to Dick that his son was a lot more alive then most professionals had given him credit.
When a local lacrosse player was paralyzed Rick told his dad that he wanted to be in the 5-K fun run for the lacrosse player. Dick said yes even though he wasn’t in very good shape. At the end of the race Rick typed out, ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were running, It felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''
Despite the fact that Dick was sore for two weeks from the 5-K, Dick decided to try and give Rick the feeling of not being disabled as often as he could. Since then the two of them have competed in 85 marathons (including 24 Boston Marathons), and multiple Iron Man Triathlons, which means that for each triathlon Dick swims 2.4 miles while pulling Rick behind him in an inflatable raft, then he bikes 112 miles with Rick in a special seat on the handle bars of his bike and then he pushes Rick 26.2 miles in a modified wheel chair.
Dick is an amazing builder that has allowed his severely disabled son to experience some real joy. We have all been blessed to have some great builders here at FfJHS. These builders include:
-The Administrators
-The Teachers, and
-The Support Staff
These all are great people who have accepted jobs where they would have the opportunity to teach and build people every day. We thank them for their great service.
These Builders have helped us to have a great time here and to grow. From our first days as Sevies trying to figure out how to open our lockers and how to find our classes – we have come a long way!
(7th grade stuff . . . . )
- I remember being so excited to leave the little kids at elementary school and come here to be a big kid. Once we got here we were reminded continually that we were not big kids we were just lowly “Sevies.”
-
- Do you remember our first dance as Sevies? – what an absolutely miserable experience. . . . It is a wonder than any of us ever went to another one. . .
-
- Remember the excitement of that first JHS crush, and then almost immediately that first JHS break up?? And then we were on to 8th grade.
(8th grade stuff . . . )
- We started to develop better friendships. Oh, the excitement of no longer being a Sevie . . . We started getting involved in and going to more extracurricular activities.
- From volleyball and girl’s b-ball to wrestling and track to band concerts and science Olympiad and NAL and NJHS to Orchestra to the play.
-
- 8th grade was definitely better than 7th, but the best was yet to come.
(9th grade stuff . . . )
- As 9th graders we have continued to build some great memories and have accomplished some impressive things along the way:
Sports
- The GBB team scored in every game they played.
- And, the volleyball team won at least two games this year.
- BBB were one game short of a school record for wins in a season and went to semi finals
- WR 3rd at district – there were 5 wrestlers that placed.
- Track broke 3 school records.
Sci. Olympiad went to Nationals for the 12th year in a row.
Musically
- The Band had 11 soloists who performed at district and 10 receive superior ratings.
NAL
-They only lost twice! Good Job NAL!
Drama put on another great musical this year of Beauty and the Beast.
Choir did a great job this year.
€€
The “Behind-the-Scenes” Heroes at Fairfield
-However, more important than the accomplishments that bring the recognition of the world we have some great students here who have built people . . .
-If you have ever done something nice to someone, you are a builder.
-Congratulated someone for something they were excited about.
- Worked hard to bring up a grade.
- Invited someone to sit by you in the lunchroom.
- Or, even just smiled and said hi to someone in the hall you are a BUILDER.
Challenge
Graduation from FfJHS signals the start of the rest of our lives. From here we decide if we want to get good grades. Like my mom and grandma say ALL OF THE TIME, “Decide what you want to be, pay the price, then be what you want to be.”
We get to choose to build a life of meaning or mediocrity. We get to choose to build people up carefully, or to tear them down carelessly. From what I have seen being around all of you, we have a lot of builders in our class.
I am grateful for the years that we have had together at FfJHS. Our theme this year has been “Falcons Stop at Nothing.” It is my hope that the things that we engage ourselves in will be meaningful, because with all of the talent you each possess, I expect a lot of great things out of each of you, builers, in the future.
Thank you.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
My letter thing
Dear Rees,I just wanted to get this out of the way at the start, but I think that you are an incredibly handsome young man. Phew! That lifts off a big burden.Thank you for peing involved in the Honors English program. You have worked hard to be where you are right now this close to completing Honors English. I have seen you fall behind (way behind), but I am proud that you caught up and are still working hard to achieve this. I hope that you have enjoyed reading the books and improving your writing skills because it seems like you have enjoyed it. It has been fun to have you as a part of our online class and thank you for sharing your profound and very deep comments with our class in your blogs. I appreciate your very first blog. It had no title and went on and on about the Indianapolis Colts (long live the Indianapolis Colts!), but it showed me that you are a very talented writer that has a good balance of interests.Once again I would like to thank you, and no I will not kcik you out of Honors English you have earned this.Much love, your number one fan,Mr. T
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Written paper on novels
Have you ever read a book that had you chuckling to yourself? I recently read the books Walk Two Moons and To Kill a Mockingbird. Both of these books are very similar. The narrators, in both books, are teenage girls that go through some form of a challenge and want to share it with the reader. I think that both of the voices in these books are similar because of the story line behind them.
Scout and Salamanca (the narrators of the two books) are both alike in that they both give details in a humorous way. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout tells of how she can never think of anything to say to her Aunt Alexandra and can never think of anything to say to her Aunt. She says,
“I could think of nothing else to say to her. In fact I could never think of anything to say to her,and I sat thinking of past painful converstations between us:”.
Scout could have simply said that it was awkward to talk to her aunt, but instead she describes it as being painful. Also, in Walk Two Moons Salamanca describes when she tried not to flinch whenever she was touched by Ben. She tells the story like so,
“My brain was mess, what with trying not to flinch whenever Ben brushed against me.”
Salamanca didn’t need to say that her “brain was a mess”. I think that both narrators made attempts, multiple times in their stories, to include humor. Personally I think that this was a good way for the narrators to create a voice that a teenage narrator would use.
Also, I believe that another characteristic that both narrators share is that they ask many introspective questions. In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout asks why Atticus didn’t tell her that he was assigned to Tom’s case. Scout remembers when she first learned that Atticus was assigned to Tom’s case how she was upset that he never told her that when they were teased by the kids at school and Atticus told her to keep enduring it patiently. Salamanca wonders about Pandora’s Box, and all the things that were in the box. She says,
“There must have been another box with all the good things in it, like sunshine and love and trees and all that. Who had the good fortune to open that one, and was there one bad thing down there in the bottom of the good box? Maybe it was Worry.”
However, I feel that there were things that made the two authors different. In To Kill a Mockingbird I noticed that Scout almost always formed an opinion and voiced it to the reader. In this passage it says,
“She had put so much starch in my dress it came up like a tent when I sat down. She made me wear a petticoat and she wrapped a pink sash tightly around my waist.”
Scout is clearly upset by the way Calpurnia is making Scout wear. In Walk Two Moons I found a passage that was similar, but it didn’t have an opinion; it was just a statement. It goes,
“I had just finished telling Gram and Gramps about the mysterious message when Gramps pulled off the freeway. He said he was tired of chewing up the road, and the white lines down the middle of the highway were beginning to wiggle.
Both of these passages are similar because the narrator is in a situation where they are upset (Salmanca hates to stop and wants to get to Lewiston, and Scout doesn’t like wearing Sunday clothes).
I think that there are many more ways to compare the narrators of the two books, but here are some of the comparisons that I noticed in the book. I think that these two books both share stories in a humorous way, ask introspective questions, but they are different in the ways that they share opinions.
Scout and Salamanca (the narrators of the two books) are both alike in that they both give details in a humorous way. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout tells of how she can never think of anything to say to her Aunt Alexandra and can never think of anything to say to her Aunt. She says,
“I could think of nothing else to say to her. In fact I could never think of anything to say to her,and I sat thinking of past painful converstations between us:”.
Scout could have simply said that it was awkward to talk to her aunt, but instead she describes it as being painful. Also, in Walk Two Moons Salamanca describes when she tried not to flinch whenever she was touched by Ben. She tells the story like so,
“My brain was mess, what with trying not to flinch whenever Ben brushed against me.”
Salamanca didn’t need to say that her “brain was a mess”. I think that both narrators made attempts, multiple times in their stories, to include humor. Personally I think that this was a good way for the narrators to create a voice that a teenage narrator would use.
Also, I believe that another characteristic that both narrators share is that they ask many introspective questions. In To Kill a Mockingbird Scout asks why Atticus didn’t tell her that he was assigned to Tom’s case. Scout remembers when she first learned that Atticus was assigned to Tom’s case how she was upset that he never told her that when they were teased by the kids at school and Atticus told her to keep enduring it patiently. Salamanca wonders about Pandora’s Box, and all the things that were in the box. She says,
“There must have been another box with all the good things in it, like sunshine and love and trees and all that. Who had the good fortune to open that one, and was there one bad thing down there in the bottom of the good box? Maybe it was Worry.”
However, I feel that there were things that made the two authors different. In To Kill a Mockingbird I noticed that Scout almost always formed an opinion and voiced it to the reader. In this passage it says,
“She had put so much starch in my dress it came up like a tent when I sat down. She made me wear a petticoat and she wrapped a pink sash tightly around my waist.”
Scout is clearly upset by the way Calpurnia is making Scout wear. In Walk Two Moons I found a passage that was similar, but it didn’t have an opinion; it was just a statement. It goes,
“I had just finished telling Gram and Gramps about the mysterious message when Gramps pulled off the freeway. He said he was tired of chewing up the road, and the white lines down the middle of the highway were beginning to wiggle.
Both of these passages are similar because the narrator is in a situation where they are upset (Salmanca hates to stop and wants to get to Lewiston, and Scout doesn’t like wearing Sunday clothes).
I think that there are many more ways to compare the narrators of the two books, but here are some of the comparisons that I noticed in the book. I think that these two books both share stories in a humorous way, ask introspective questions, but they are different in the ways that they share opinions.
PB & J
The way to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is this; first, you need to get hit with the beast of hunger.
When hunger hits you have to quench that by thinking peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Go find some peanut butter, jam or jelly, and some pieces of bread.
You will need to make the jam yourself, because then the sandwich will taste better and be more filling and personal to your taste buds.
The way to make the jam is this.
You will need to think ahead when you make the jam. If you do a bad job on the jam in the fall, then the next summer you will be forced to eat bad jam.
When you feel like the jam is going to be very tasty and delicious you need to seal it with a passion so that it will preserve.
You will need to try the jam when you finish it.
So go grab some of your most picky taste buds and grab your favorite bread and peanut butter.
Make the sandwich the best you can (if you do a poor job the jam won’t taste very good later) and then you will need to eat it.
When hunger hits you have to quench that by thinking peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
Go find some peanut butter, jam or jelly, and some pieces of bread.
You will need to make the jam yourself, because then the sandwich will taste better and be more filling and personal to your taste buds.
The way to make the jam is this.
You will need to think ahead when you make the jam. If you do a bad job on the jam in the fall, then the next summer you will be forced to eat bad jam.
When you feel like the jam is going to be very tasty and delicious you need to seal it with a passion so that it will preserve.
You will need to try the jam when you finish it.
So go grab some of your most picky taste buds and grab your favorite bread and peanut butter.
Make the sandwich the best you can (if you do a poor job the jam won’t taste very good later) and then you will need to eat it.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Excercise
It’s very important that we are healthy and take care of our body. I read an article on why it’s so important to take care of our body. It covered different ways to stay healthy. It covered the importance of healthy eating in our society today. It was a good article on healthy living.
In the article I was informed about how our mentality is affected by exercise (the runners high). Later, the article talked about why it’s important to have colonoscopies once Americans hit their 40s so that they avoid colon cancer. It also talked about how exercise can be like a medication for depression and other illnesses. The author of the article said that he has been taking colonoscopies since he was 20 and it is a very relaxing process to know you are cancer free. It was a very informative article and I learned a lot from it.
I think that our health is very important if we choose to live a long healthy life. If we want to live for a long time we need to be very concerned about our health and genetics. A lot of cancer is directly linked to our parents and grandparents. If they had a cancer our chances are very good. I stand by what I said our health is very important if we choose to live a long healthy life.
World statistics show that if our ancestors have suffered from a stroke or cancer then we are very likely to suffer as well. We need to still be very concerned with some of the things that we are letting into our bodies, but exercise is very important. Proper exercise, getting enough sleep, and regular doctor appointments are critical. Duke University says that the average American should exercise 30 minutes a day for 3 weeks. My doctor says that everyone should have a doctor’s appointment annually.
We should all be aware of the problems faced with poor health. If we don’t take care of our bodies then we will not succeed in living long. Proper exercise, getting enough sleep, and regular doctor appointments are key to healthy living. We should be really concerned about what we do with our bodies. I think that every American should be very concerned about their heatlh.
In the article I was informed about how our mentality is affected by exercise (the runners high). Later, the article talked about why it’s important to have colonoscopies once Americans hit their 40s so that they avoid colon cancer. It also talked about how exercise can be like a medication for depression and other illnesses. The author of the article said that he has been taking colonoscopies since he was 20 and it is a very relaxing process to know you are cancer free. It was a very informative article and I learned a lot from it.
I think that our health is very important if we choose to live a long healthy life. If we want to live for a long time we need to be very concerned about our health and genetics. A lot of cancer is directly linked to our parents and grandparents. If they had a cancer our chances are very good. I stand by what I said our health is very important if we choose to live a long healthy life.
World statistics show that if our ancestors have suffered from a stroke or cancer then we are very likely to suffer as well. We need to still be very concerned with some of the things that we are letting into our bodies, but exercise is very important. Proper exercise, getting enough sleep, and regular doctor appointments are critical. Duke University says that the average American should exercise 30 minutes a day for 3 weeks. My doctor says that everyone should have a doctor’s appointment annually.
We should all be aware of the problems faced with poor health. If we don’t take care of our bodies then we will not succeed in living long. Proper exercise, getting enough sleep, and regular doctor appointments are key to healthy living. We should be really concerned about what we do with our bodies. I think that every American should be very concerned about their heatlh.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Technology
We, my scout troop are going on a scout campout. I started to tink about how it really has changed from what the pioneers did. I think that we have made it seem like a form of entertainment. The pioneers would go and do it as part of their life. Nowadays we go camping as a way of life; if you like to go camping that it is. We have made many of these things very different from what it was. I think that we continue to make things that were tools forms of recreation.
We don't need tents anymore, most of us, for anything more then hunting or camping. We don't use boats to cross the ocean and find a better way of life; we use boats to go skiing. I think that we are going to continually have a change in what our society uses. I am adamant that soon we will have tons more private planes then we do now. We don't use the same things as a way of life anymore and it has become entertainment.
In the 1800s everyone was trying to move to the west because you could grow so much food! If you think it was indirectly because it would be eaiser to survive. We don't move to a different town because it grows more food, just because it has a prettier view of the ocean or a pond. I think that we will continue to change our opinion on things like this. In 100 years things will as different as they were 100 years ago. I think that we are aorking hard to cure cancer and in 50 years we will be working hard to stop Ebola or Down Syndrome. We are changing very greatly.
We don't need tents anymore, most of us, for anything more then hunting or camping. We don't use boats to cross the ocean and find a better way of life; we use boats to go skiing. I think that we are going to continually have a change in what our society uses. I am adamant that soon we will have tons more private planes then we do now. We don't use the same things as a way of life anymore and it has become entertainment.
In the 1800s everyone was trying to move to the west because you could grow so much food! If you think it was indirectly because it would be eaiser to survive. We don't move to a different town because it grows more food, just because it has a prettier view of the ocean or a pond. I think that we will continue to change our opinion on things like this. In 100 years things will as different as they were 100 years ago. I think that we are aorking hard to cure cancer and in 50 years we will be working hard to stop Ebola or Down Syndrome. We are changing very greatly.
Friday, February 22, 2008
How Electives Help
Have you ever liked a class because it was different from the rest? Well what if someone voted to try and take away those classes? The thing is there are people right now trying to do that. I think that most teenagers would agree with me that they really like their elective classes because it is different from the classes they were taking in grade school. I think that we should have our elective classes in school.
I remember going to gym and kids would ask questions about their classes. Few asked about the core classes. Most questions about what was happening in their elective class that day. Teenagers need elective classes so that they feel like they are really learning something new from other students. Many take teen living to help them become a parent. Also, teenagers need to get a head start at what may end up being their career.
Many times the teachers in core classes are not very fun. My memories of great teachers involve 2 core teachers and the rest have been all been found in my electives. I really enjoy the way that my band teacher would make us want to play our instruments the best that we could. My Spanish teacher made studying foreign languages a lot of fun. I also remember my math teacher once was a very controlling, strict man that was doing math for the love of it alone, and had little interest in his classes.
I know that you are thinking right now, “Well I have really enjoyed my core classes and the teachers,” or, “My favorite class was always English.” There are many teens however that are no to thrilled to go to a class that is not very fun. In theater you work, work, work and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, and then you have the privilege to perform in front of the whole school! In Spanish you can learn a foreign language so that you can go to a foreign country for a cruise and not worry about someone who doesn’t understand you. I think that many times a twist in classes can spice up your day and really give you something to look forward to.
I am adamant that we, teenagers, need electives. Many of us are looking ahead to our jobs and many of us can decide by an elective class we took as a freshman. I truly believe that many fellow teens would be devastated if they were to lose there freedom to choose classes, ability to harbor a talent and perform in a school function and their ability to look for a fun teacher.
I remember going to gym and kids would ask questions about their classes. Few asked about the core classes. Most questions about what was happening in their elective class that day. Teenagers need elective classes so that they feel like they are really learning something new from other students. Many take teen living to help them become a parent. Also, teenagers need to get a head start at what may end up being their career.
Many times the teachers in core classes are not very fun. My memories of great teachers involve 2 core teachers and the rest have been all been found in my electives. I really enjoy the way that my band teacher would make us want to play our instruments the best that we could. My Spanish teacher made studying foreign languages a lot of fun. I also remember my math teacher once was a very controlling, strict man that was doing math for the love of it alone, and had little interest in his classes.
I know that you are thinking right now, “Well I have really enjoyed my core classes and the teachers,” or, “My favorite class was always English.” There are many teens however that are no to thrilled to go to a class that is not very fun. In theater you work, work, work and rehearse, rehearse, rehearse, and then you have the privilege to perform in front of the whole school! In Spanish you can learn a foreign language so that you can go to a foreign country for a cruise and not worry about someone who doesn’t understand you. I think that many times a twist in classes can spice up your day and really give you something to look forward to.
I am adamant that we, teenagers, need electives. Many of us are looking ahead to our jobs and many of us can decide by an elective class we took as a freshman. I truly believe that many fellow teens would be devastated if they were to lose there freedom to choose classes, ability to harbor a talent and perform in a school function and their ability to look for a fun teacher.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)