Table of Contents: Click on the Story/Student to Read
The West End by Allie Goodrich
Since When Was it Fact? by Samantha Scholefield
Public Speaking: Naruto is Not Mindless by Nina Duggan
The Wave by J.P. Bradley
No Trespassing by Riley Smith
A Tale of Two Kittens by Rebecca Gettys
Wheels by Ethan Pailes
Kid Essay by Gordon Lacey
White World by Cameron Murphy
The West End
By Allie Goodrich
Standing on the old stone bunker
Whose rusty rungs and plain walls
Are all that remain to feed the imagination
I gaze out at the shadow of No Man's Land
Like a dark frown on the horizon
The long grass cranes its neck from side to side
As though trying to see something other than itself
The stone monument watches over the oyster farm
And waves crash over the cobbled beach
As though bowing down to its rough beauty
I walk along the rain washed path
Beneath a tunnel of poplar trees
The leaves' faces first furrowed into olive frowns
And then flashing brilliant silver smiles
As though a sudden realization has struck them
All around is the pounding of the ocean's heart
Battering itself against the weather-worn cliffs
Nothing here has changed, I say to myself
Only my view of it
When I was young I took no notice
Of the light pulsing through the leaves,
The chipped white paint on the fence,
Or the melancholy fading light of day
I used to ride on my parents' shoulders
As they tread a path through
The natural silence of the West End
Swinging my feet and eagerly plucking blackberries off the closest bush
We would stand on the aged bunker together
Until the eyelid of the sky had closed
Coming to rest upon the horizon
Now the oyster farm falls into a purple slumber
As the peek of the monument is illuminated by orange flame
And the wind echoes longingly
Throughout the depths of the bunker
Since When Was it Fact?
By Samantha Scholefield
For my whole life I have trusted the teacher’s lesson plan and never questioned the textbook because to me they were fact. Everything you learned was true. I believed this theory quite thoroughly up until my ninth grade biology class when I was expected to believe that the earth is 14 billion years old. I was also told that human-like species were created over 4 million years ago. I was shocked that we were being taught purely lies. There’s a difference between being taught about an opinion and being taught about truth.
Evolution is taught in schools world-wide as fact, but it seems like what evolution is missing are facts themselves. The theory of evolution is named so because it is precisely that, nothing but mere theory. Based on the dictionary definition of the term, “theory” refers to an abstract thought, a plausible scientific principle, a hypothesis, or belief. I do not find it reassuring to know that this part of our curriculum is based off a hypothesis. I will admit that the opposite of evolution, known as creation, is also a belief, but creation is backed up by fact. This is unlike evolution which is only a hypothesis and has never been proven, nor can it ever be.
One of the most discomforting aspects of this debate is how students who don’t know any better will take this curriculum as fact. They are trained to believe everything you learn in school is true, which it has been until this point. Students need to know that evolution is nothing more then an opinion formed by Charles Darwin. We all have our opinions, but when they are backed up by facts they become more. My statements about evolution are not an opinion, they are truth. This is unlike the evolution curriculum in schools today.
Schools should not be teaching evolution because the way it is being taught is not at all helpful nor productive. I am okay with evolution being explained as a view of the earth’s creation, but not as the actuality. Based on creation, which is in no way a theory, the earth is 6,000 years old and humans were created during the first week. These humans were known as Adam and Eve, a fully grown man and woman. This is where the entire human race came from. They were not created millions of year s ago. The earth isn’t 14 billion years old, no matter what the evolutionary timeline says. There are no actual facts to prove that the world is that old.
Many people on the evolution side of the debate may believe that fossils have been dated back millions of years, but from what I know this dating process is known as carbon dating and is not a completely accurate way to collect data. It is said that carbon dating gives a relative date, but how could this relative date be proven? Scientists are guessing based on a set of scientific tests that are believed to work. But there is no way to assure that these test are accurate.
I am not entirely sure why there is much of a debate on the subject because one side is based entirely on truth and facts while the other is just perceived as truth. It seems like an easy choice to me. Fact or fiction? If evolution were to be backed up by some truth at all I would be willing to listen, but since there is none, nor will there ever be any, I don’t see the argument. The Bible tells us that creation is true and since my religion is based off the Bible, I undoubtably believe creation. I also believe that no student should ever take evolution as truth.
Public Speaking: Naruto is not Mindless
By Nina Duggan
“Every single one of us goes through life depending on and bound by our individual knowledge and awareness. And we call it reality. However, both knowledge and awareness are equivocal. One’s reality might be another’s illusion. We all live inside our own fantasies.” This quote is from a villain in the popular series known as Naruto. If this quote is from a villain, imagine how amazing the quotes from the heroes are. Some people seem to think that Naruto is just a bunch of people standing there and randomly yelling at each other until one of them blows up. In the series the only person who really is almost constantly yelling is Naruto, and that is only because he is a loud person. Think about it, it has to take a lot to be the most popular ninja manga in Japan and sell well over 4.4 million books in the U.S.A.
Naruto actually has a fantastically good plot. Naruto also has some good values in the series. It teaches you to never give up, to think, and to understand people a little better. Most of the villains in the series actually have a real reason for being bad, it’s not just the usual who is good and who is evil. For example, one villain was only evil because his parents had been killed in war; granted, his solution of causing a mass war and sacrificing the lives of many people wasn’t ideal, but he had a reason. The characters are all superbly developed, but are developed at different times throughout the series so there is not a huge overload of information. The characters also think like humans do, they have intelligent thoughts that even help to explain what is going on in a clever way. In Naruto, most of the characters are actual humans that you can really relate to and look up to. Naruto also teaches you about human nature through showing you the different emotions of all these characters. The characters are not unfeeling; they exhibit greed, happiness, hatred, shyness, and all of the other emotions that you and I would feel. It goes into serious issues, not in our world, but still issues that confront both our world and theirs, issues such as the controversy of war for the sake of peace, looking at things through the eyes of both the good and bad, and even the corruption of some ruling powers.
Naruto is not like Dragonball-Z for example. When someone in Naruto uses any power their hair and muscles don’t grow to, quite frankly, ridiculous sizes. In Dragonball-Z, in my experience, there is no real plot. I have watched the series before and I have found no meaning or real values in the series. I mean no offense to any fans of the series, this is just my personal experience. Naruto has more of a meaning than collecting objects of power, it has complicated plot twists and subplots. Naruto may have a lot of violence in it but also has a strong message of peace. In Naruto, everything that happens makes sense. Granted, almost none of it could possibly happen, but it is all explained. When something happens it is completely explained through the thoughts of the characters so that the reader doesn't get confused. Naruto is a series that I feel any aspiring comic artist should look up to.
The Wave
By J.P. Bradley
We walk on the beach on a sunny day
Looking for shells in our feet’s way
The wave thrusts upon me like hammer against nail
My shelling endeavor now fails
Water rushes in covering my legs
I stumble and tilt like an unstable peg
My friends grab my arm to keep me upright
I have never endured such a dreadful fright
The undertow leaves as quick as it came
The feeling of sand over my feet was the same
Waves left a new batch of shells
The snails in their shells still dwell
Sun drops off the ocean horizon so quick
We look at the many shells we have picked
The waves still continue all night and day
Then they begin to drift away
No Trespassing
By Riley Smith
There is a patch of sky
Where no bird dares traverse
Despite the careless, cloudless blue
That tempts them ever toward it
They dare not test it
For all the brave young birds
That ever dared to challenge
To soar within that azure sky
Were never seen again
There is a patch of forest
Where no squirrel dares to climb
Despite the leafy trees
That tempts them ever toward it
They dare not test it
For all the brave young squirrels
That ever dared to challenge
To swing among the slender branches
Were never seen again
There is a patch of earth
Where no deer dares to run
Despite the lush green grass
That tempts them ever toward it
They dare not test it
For all the brave young deer
That ever dared to challenge
To prance within that emerald field
Were never seen again
There is a patch of lake
Where no fish dares to swim
Despite the clear blue water
That tempts them ever toward it
They dare not test it
For all the brave young fish
That ever dared to challenge
To glide among the dark green reeds
Were never seen again
The animals know better
They learn from past mistakes
They dare not test the limits
Of their world
So even when the grass seems greener
On the other side
Don't be fooled
And don't say we didn't warn you
When you're never seen again
A Tale of Two Kittens
By Rebecca Gettys
Ooft! I feel two front paws, with claws out, land in bed with me. Then two back ones. He ambles along, stepping all over me. He finds my hand, and starts licking and chewing my fingers. Then I make a mistake. I move my foot. He pounces, cutting my foot with his claws through the covers. Meet my alarm clock, Buster.
This summer my riding instructor found two kittens, Buster and Bluebelle, wandering in the woods at the park, totally lost and confused. Clearly siblings, my family adopted them. While I would not trade the kittens for the world, I was not expecting the insanity they would bring. The kittens indulge in a million bizarre behaviors to catch our attention. Examples include the “Lunatic Kitten”, and the inexplicable “Puppy Kitten”.
A favorite activity of the kittens is to act like lunatics. They will start bolting around and wrestling with each other, but what they really want is for you to pay attention to them - no, not that silly textbook, but THEM, the center of the universe. They seem to think they own us, and not the other way around! Belle will climb onto your shoulders and back while Buster prefers using his claws to attract attention. Being kittens, they love to play. If we do not pay attention to them, they will wreak havoc on the decor. My house has grass paper on the walls, and the cats will sink their claws into it and climb all the way up. Problem is, they are not smart enough to get back down. Eventually they fall, jump, or they get a water squirt. Either way, they seem to believe that whatever happened could have been prevented, if you had just spent more time with them!
Finally, Buster likes to behave like a puppy. Buster loves yarn, which could kill him if he ate it. Of course, this does not deter Buster, who is always looking for hidden balls of yarn. Once he has a ball of yarn, he bites it and refuses to let go. After that, he proceeds to run around the house, unrolling the ball of yarn and getting badly tangled in it. However, untangling him would be unacceptable, because he must guard his precious ball of yarn at all costs. If you do dare to venture near Puppy-Kitten, he will act just like a dog. He will try to guard the yarn and then, if you persist, growl before attacking.
While I thought that kittens would be a relaxing addition to my life, they have in fact introduced a small dose of chaos, although I think they are worth the trouble.
Wheels
By Ethan Pailes
The wheel of life begins to grind
Souls enter pure and free and leaves a bloody rind
The wheel of bliss hides among the clouds
For humanity just beats too loud
The wheels of war churn the mud
Wherever they pass they leave a field of blood
The wheel of faith hangs above cathedrals of song
People follow to be told what is right and what is wrong
The wheel of myth might turn and might not
As it tells of battles bravely fought
The wheel of dreams turns with finality
As people wake up to reality.
The wheel of time finds everyone in the end
You never know when its waiting just around the bend
The final wheel steals your life with your final breath
For the final wheel is the wheel of death
By Gordon Lacey
I think being a kid is obsessively watching “Spongebob”, using temporary tattoos, still thinking Yu-Gi-Oh is cool, and eating messily, along with the fact that someone saying “butt” is worthy of five minutes of crippling laughter. I stopped being a kid sometime around ten, when I stopped really watching “Spongebob”. Since then, I haven’t really been interested in card games, and never watch “Spongebob”, unless I am not paying attention to the TV. Or use those temporary tattoos. I have not seen anyone use those in years, not even little kids. Nor do I laugh at the word “butt”, although the “eighth graders” on my bus will. They are still children, even though they’re almost my age. I seem to have gained an overpowering feeling of “humanity is stupid” as I have gotten older, but that may just be because I’ve seen more of the world now than I had when I was ten.
When you’re a kid, you don’t really have responsibility for your actions or for other people. Your parents do most of the work for you. When you grow up, you have to start doing more and more work and taking responsibility for your own actions. However, on the upside, you have a little more freedom to do what you want; your parents don’t decide everything you do.
There is always some kid inside everyone, though. Just because we decide to stop being a kid doesn’t mean we can’t do kid-like stuff. I know that at least a few of my fellow 9th graders watch “Spongebob”, and I know at least one person who still loves Yu-Gi-Oh. Yes, they are my age. You have to stop being a kid for a while, during various life stages, but there’s generally room for a little childish fun anywhere in life.
White World
By Cameron Murphy
The planet of white is like a sketch waiting to be drawn.
Just an endless expanse of white ground as far as the eye can see.
There are no trees, for they are waiting for their shape and color
And the grass awaits their moment of creation.
The rivers have yet to run, until they are directed where
And the sky remains blank, until filled with purpose.
The only things there are are small plants with budding flowers
That take the form of colored crayons.
Nature supplies the tools,
You supply the nature.