Last Thursday my family decided to go to Allegany High School to Meet the Squad night to watch my niece perform. My niece, Kami, is now fifteen and is a member of the dance team for her school. This is the last year for Allegany High School to be open; they are closing the old school and building a new one before next school year. I went with my mom, my brother, and my girlfriend to watch Kami perform. The whole gym was packed with parents and other relatives, and there we sat right in the middle. The bleachers were packed and people sat so close together just to fit. The entire time my girlfriend and I joked about how we felt awkward being there since we both graduated from Mountain Ridge. At one point my girlfriend whispered in my ear “their
6th grade was not all that bad. That is before the incident however. Going to school was fun for the most part, the classes were difficult, friends were plenteous, and the food was good. Life at Lancaster Country Day School was swell, again, before the incident. Now, said issue somewhat killed my image at the school and saved it at the same time; it also made me question others. Were my friends really my friends? Or did they use me to as a sick and twisted way to formulate drama? I had a friend. I had many friends really, I was friends with the whole 50 people in my grade. But this friend, this friend was different. Her name Mady Gosselin. Yes, the Mady Gosselin from Kate Plus 8. We had been close, I talked to her almost every day. However,
I pretty much felt like an outcast when I began high school. Most of my classmates still had their friends from middle school, whereas mine went to the neighboring high school. Having social anxiety really didn’t help me either. It was hard for me to make eye contact with others or even bother to introduce myself to new people. In the first few weeks of high school, something had caught my eye. There were flyers advertising auditions for ‘The Little Mermaid’ production. Taking the risk, I decided to audition. Through the auditorium doors there was a grey table with upperclassmen talking to other students. Located on the table were different character scripts and a clipboard for signing in. One of the strangers approached
I saw her cry so many times throughout the last two years of high school and every time I did I’d always make sure to go over to her house after softball practice. I always wanted to make sure she was okay and if I couldn’t go over I would call her after and just listen and let her vent. The first time I decided to go over was pretty nerve wracking because we weren’t entirely friends yet. We talked and laughed together in class and I would come over to work on homework with her but it wasn’t ever for anything not school related so I was really uncertain on coming over unannounced. I eventually made up my mind and picked up whataburger meals with milkshakes and went over. I didn’t know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t what I saw because when I got there she looked completely fine and I was expecting some form of emotional mess. This was a type of Atypical dissonance because I had begun to expect her to be crying all the time but as I got to know her I learned that her parents weren’t really involved in her personal life and they always expected perfection. I finally realized that all those times I saw her crying at school were because she wasn’t able to cry at home. Eventually after realizing this and I knew she was upset I would pick her up and we’d get food from the drive-thru so we could sit in the car, talk, and
As we continuously talked, the others continuously gave me dirty looks. When one of the damas yelled “Look it, now he’s trying to get at your cousin Marie”. They all laughed and made me and my partner feel uncomfortable. “The day of the fifteen is almost here and we still don't have all of the steps right” yells the choreographer. As we practiced that whole week for hours me and Jessica continued to talk, and the others continued to talk trash as if I weren’t there. The day of the fifteen came. After we finished the church, like most fifteens we went inside a limo. As we were in the limo Jessica sat next to me and we began to talk. As we continued to talk I felt the urge to put my arm around her (because we were squished) my urges became stronger and stronger until I finally did it; put my arm around her. To me that meant nothing a lot of friends put their arm around each other I thought, but the others thought otherwise. Time flew by while we were in the limo as if just a second ago we were in it and now the driver is dropping us off at the hall
I barely talked to her and let alone looked at her. I refused to let her childish antics ruin the night even more. It’s midnight now, prom is over and we leave with our friends to wait outside for our parents. Handing her my jacket, she smiles thanking me for putting up with her bullshit. I shrug it off because she is human and we all have our off day. I can see she’s feeling much better as a smile develops and a laugh comes out repeatedly. I ask “Are we going to be alright?” She kisses me and whispers “Yes, it’s a sure thing.”
I walked up the long, stone stairs of Hidden Oaks Middle School. Middle school students were walking up the stairs alongside me and talking with each other. I joined this math club because I wanted to fit in and make new friends. We opened the doors and walked through the long hall filled with posters and works of students. We walked into Mrs. Janasky’s room. I sat down next to my sister and talked with her. The teacher handed us a piece of paper covered in math problems.
My pre-calculus teacher walks forward with a large stack of papers and hands me an overturned test - normally a sign of bad results. I flip the packet over and I’m devastated by what I see. On this single math exam, I receive the worst grade I’ve ever had in a class - a 56. At first, I think that everybody failed, and that maybe there’d be a curve. But as my partner receives his test back, I quickly realize I’m wrong.
When I was entering into High School, I tried to join as many clubs as I can, since I wanted not only to be superior in grades, but also extracurricular activities. So as usual, I joined Key Club. At first volunteering at the events was fun, but as I went to more events, it felt as if it was a chore. I did not feel any passion; it was rather tiresome.
I had Ashley Gilmore as a date and I was super excited about that, I had a huge thing for Ashley and this was my opportunity to make something of it. The dance itself went pretty well but it was not until the after party things took off. Rachel Hughes threw a big party at her house after the dance. It was so funny because her parents were home the entire time. They knew guys were spending the night and they were fine with it they just did not think there would be alcohol. There was a lot of it. As Rachel’s parents were sleeping in their room we hauled in coolers full and beer and who knows whatelse. There were a ton of people in that small basement and that just added to the experience. Know to add some back story, I am sure that I remember how crazy Hunter Borger and Mckenzie Smith were all throughout high school. They were off and on and just when we thought they were finally done they would hook up, it was an absolute disaster. Well Hunter asked and went with Emily Etter to homecoming that year and it did not go over well with Mckenzie. Hunter had been back and forth between Mckenzie and Emily for years now, these two girls hated each other. We never knew why Hunter went for Emily, she never dated him, she would lead him on right to where Hunter thought he was in the clear and leave him. But at the same time we never knew why Mckenzie always took him back, he clearly liked Emily more but Mckenzie was
At the end of my 8th grade one of my aunts from Chicago offered me a room in her apartment. I accepted and traveled back to Chicago. I started freshman year in Steinmetz college prep. My English was bad because I never used it back in Mexico and it had been more than six years. My freshman year they put me in ESL classes, but by the end of that year I had improved so much that they took me out of ESL and offered me a place in the IB program. I was starting to like it, but something horrible happened. My grandpa died, and my aunt went back to Mexico and decided to take care of my grandma. I was almost going to go back to Mexico, but luckily one of my aunts that lived in Arkansas, offered me a place in her house. So I left Chicago and all my new friends and school and went to the south. Being the new kid in school is the worst. You don't know anybody and you don't have friends. The school was called Springdale High-school. I made no friends and pretty much sat by myself at lunch the whole year I was there. At the end of that year my aunt told me that my cousin, that was sharing his room with me, told her that he didn't have “privacy” anymore and that I had to
The Tuesday of Thanksgiving break my sophomore year my best friends Cassandra Johnson a.k.a. Cass and Emilie Oesterle a.k.a. Half O and I all had one crazy night. It started out leaving SJA and heading to Emilie’s to get her some clothes then to Cass’s. We all changed out of our school uniforms and into casual clothes. After changing we went on Cass’s porch and started smoking weed. All three of us flirted with these senior guys, Thompson Hinman, Jimmy Partel, and Alex Sarrirs. These guys were always together, they were best friends. Each of us had “our” guy. Meaning we each preferred one guy over the other. Cass had Thompson, Emilie had Jimmy and I had Alex. With these guys we’d flirt and send them sexy pics, etc. etc. I can’t remember eating
Brittany was in 10th grade at Pineview High School she had long brown hair and brown eyes. She had 2 siblings; one older brother and older sister. Her family was middle class lived in a nice neighborhood in a nice house. She got along with her brother Spencer, but brittany and her sister Emily did not get along at all. Everyday when they came home from school they would pick fights just like any other sister relationship. Brittany was an okay school student her grades hovered around B’s and C’s and sometimes A’s; her older brother Spencer who was a senior in college was a D’s get degrees kind of guy; Emily is two years older than Brittany and is a straight A honors student. Brittany plays three sports Soccer, Tennis, and Swimming. Spencer
I visited Findley Elementary School in Des Moines, Iowa on April eighth. Before attending Findley, I had never heard of the Turnaround Arts Program and how schools were using art and music as a way to help improve student learning and test scores. Findley Elementary school is considered a high-needs school because of their consistently low test scores. For this reason, they were eligible for the Turnaround Arts Program which provides art education resources to high-needs schools. At Findley and other Turnaround Arts Programs, teachers incorporate art, music, and drama to connect with students and provide them with an easier way to learn. There are many benefits of art and music education which include improvements in math and reading, reduction in suspensions, and increased attendance. Along with these general benefits, students claim it helps them concentrate more and control their behavior. Since Findley became a part of the Turnaround Arts Program in 2011, they have improved 11.40 percentage points in math proficiency, increased their reading proficiency score by 2.50
It was my first week of my freshman year in college. Normally, you want to survive the first week by going to school events and meeting new people. Being the first Saturday night of the school year my new friend and I decided to go to a party in another dorm on campus. Both of us didn’t know what to expect at a college party, so we dressed up and tried to look our best. As I put my black mascara on I knew that this would be a fun night. My friend Jessica knew one of the guys that would be at this gathering because he lived in the same town that she was from. Finally, we leave our dorms and head out to our first college party. We arrived at the party and started to play cards. As the night progressed, poker was getting a little boring and staying in that dorm room wasn’t too much fun either. Abruptly, one of the guys said we should go to a freshman dorm. Everyone grabbed their belongings and headed to central campus. As we walked to central campus many of the boys were whispering about how they were going to cause a ruckus. No one was a resident of this hall, so we had to ask someone who was outside to let us in.
I immediately walked over to the redhead girl and shouted, “Who are you and why are you ruining my party, get out.” She response, “Loosen up it’s a party and we are just having fun.” My dad who was always sharp at noticing things was fast asleep in his recliner next to the television. Within seconds he was hit in the head by a bottle, he arose from his recliner shouting “What the hell is going on there, you guys need to leave or else I will call the police.” One of the girls yelled “Come on guys, let’s go,” but at the corner of my eyes, I saw one of the guys from the uninvited guests grab my laptop from the console and ran outside, I tried to stop him but, was held back by my mother. Then I started to cry and say why