Forest kindergarten

All my life I have wanted to go on a mission trip to help mentor those in need. So when the opportunity came to go to Jicamarca, Peru I was extremely excited to be a part of the team being shipped off. Before going to Peru we were put through a “special” type of training. During this training we were taught what we were going to be speaking about, a skit, and a ballet dance. So when we went to Peru we would be ready for anything, at least that’s what I thought. Traveling to Peru was intense, we…

does not fully develop until the age of twenty-five. Continuing to learn in college will not only help me become a teacher, but it help my future students. I currently work in an after school program and help children daily. I have worked with kindergarten and first graders for the past two and a half years, recently being moved to work with troubled kids who need a little more attention than others. I realized it was what I loved. Becoming a teacher is what I have wanted to do since I was young…

fitness programs. Ever since I watched my sister run up and down the court and put the ball in the hoop every Saturday and show her passion of loving the game, I knew that basketball was for me. I started playing on an actual team when I was in kindergarten. I played for the YMCA team, in downtown Grand Rapids, MI. I remember when I was in 2nd grade playing in my first game with new girls and boys I’d never played with before. As I ran down the court with my shirt 3 sizes larger than it should…

dance recitals, softball games, and basketball games. He would be the crazy father in the stands shouting and hollering making himself known. My father is the kindest person I know. When he was in high school, he invited his best friend, since kindergarten, to stay with him at his house. At the time, Jason, my dad’s best friend, was homeless because his mother kicked him out of her house. My father invited Jason to stay at his house. He took Jason under his wing and treated him like a second…

Sophomore year when a girl asked me for bus money, and I decided it was time I learned to accept the first two. So here I am, made up of atoms that are 13.8 billion years old, a body almost 19 years old, and an identity that couldn’t even go to kindergarten. For this reason, I ask you to forgive me, for I have very few answers, and very little joy in remembering how I got here. One of the first times I realized I had an identity was 4th grade, when I told the girl who would become my best…

feelings, too, and in A Wish to Be a Christmas Tree by Colleen Monroe, children of all ages will relate to an old tree's sadness at being overlooked every Christmas. However, this tree is even more special than the typical Christmas tree because, as the forest animals tell him, he is enjoyed throughout the year. The rhyming story also highlights friendship and compassion, which children can practice every day and not just to get on Santa's good list. Grumpy Badger, the main character in Grumpy…

Kooskia City Clerk, a Survivor Will there be a parking space in front or will I have to walk a block? This pops in my mind as I am driving. Every day, I drive by Kooskia City Hall never paying much attention to the big blue building on Main Street. Today is different I’m interviewing the Kooskia City Clerk. As I am driving down Main Street I am still thinking will there be a parking space in front or will I have to walk a block. I’m lucky there is parking right in front, and that is amazing! I…

As I embark on a journey to adulthood, I often find myself referring back to my résumé’s roadmap to define where I was, where I am, and where I will be. I find that it has been decorated with formality and intriguing action verbs like orchestrated, designed, and executed, throughout the years, yet the simplest sentence on the page makes me most proud. “I am a chicago public school graduate” and that simple statement defines who I am more than any other statement. Of course my parents instilled…

different way of thinking and learning. For instance, some student may be unfamiliar with words, terms, and concepts used in the tests. Despite this, the test treat them as though they are all identical. Joseph Soares, a sociology professor at Wake Forest University, states, “...tests like the ACTs and SATs put low-income and minority students at a significant disadvantage”(1). High school grade point averages would also give admissions counselors a better grasp of a student’s abilities without…

The day I found out I was moving, my first reaction was relief, for up until that point, I had concluded that the reason my parents were so serious, was because I’d done something wrong. However, as soon as that thought disappeared, another one replaced it. Why were we moving to DC? We were content in the neighborhood that we lived in, or at least I was. Slowly, I began to realize that I did not like the idea of moving. I didn’t say this out loud because I was still confused. Was this a joke?…