A School of Voices

Dare to Dream

Scaling ‘Seven Summits’ no obstacle for young climber is the headline of a wonderful story. The 7 summits are the highest mountains on the seven continents. Samantha Larson is an 18 year old from California. She reached the summit of Mount Everest on Thursday, May 17^th. She is believed to be the youngest person to scale the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. It is so refreshing to read good news about teens. There’s plenty of it. We just don’t get to hear it as much as we should.

Samantha has been climbing mountains since she was a child. She reached the summit of South America’s Aconcagua when she was 13 and Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro when she was 14. 

Samantha’s next challenge is Stanford University which she will begin attending in the fall. She graduated from high school in 2006 but has spent the last year concentrating on climbing.

I was searching around and found her Everest 2007 blog. She blogs, she climbs, and who knows what else Samantha may go on to accomplish?  I also found a web site that tells her story, complete with great pictures, of the 7 summits. I love learning geography when it is wrapped around such a heart-warming story. Here’s a link to the official site to gain more information on these magical mountains. There is also good information on Wikipedia.

Okay now why don’t you dare to dream? My question for you is “What is the one dream you have, or one thing that matters to you that you would like to accomplish?" Share why you chose what you did. It can be little, it can be big. Think about it and share in the comments. What challenge would you like to undertake? Go for it!

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Gas Prices Hit the Roof!

  Lately gas prices have been at a record high of about $3 a gallon! This is the 11th day of gas prices being record high in many different states! And it doesn't look like prices are going to change very soon! The latest reading from AAA Wednesday showed the nationwide average for a gallon of regular unleaded hit $3.221 a gallon, up from $3.209 on Tuesday. The national average has now been above $3 a gallon since May 4, a string of 20 straight days.The AAA national average now shows prices up 3.8 percent over the course of the last week, along with an increase of 12.9 percent over the last month. So it looks like if your driving some wheres for a vacation, your going to have to give an arm and a leg for gas!

Introduction Of Katey

Hi! My name is Katey! I have blogged before but this weblog is a new experience for me! I am so excited to start blogging again! And I'm curious what type of news do you like? I also wanted to thank Ms. Davis for inviting me to this blog! I can't wait to start a new post, and I'm anxious to hear from all of you!  Catch ya later!   
                                           

A Shift in Direction

This blog has been dormant for a while now as I have been working with other student projects. However there are changes in the wind! I am going to co-author this blog with Katey, who is a previous blogger student of mine. We are both going to be posting about current events and issues that we believe are interesting and will invite comments and discussion.

Also Katey and I are attempting to  do this online so there may be occasional discussions between the two of us on this blog as we learn more.

So Katey if you are reading this feel free to post when you like. You log in the same way as you did in class. You will see two blogs listed. Just use this one. Email or call me if you need to! I am really looking forward to this adventure!

Katey's sign in name will be mindblogger4. Katey will be a sixth grader next year. She has spent the last year learning all about blogging and she loves it! Welcome aboard Katey!

World Cup 2006

Soccer teams  around the world are facing off at he World Cup, a month-long tournament that  is held once every four years. Use this interactive map to learn about the 32 countries competing in the Word Cup. The 17 previous World Cup titles have been won by just seven countries. More than a billion fans are expected to "tune in".

So how excited are you?

Will you be watching every game?

Who do you predict will win and why? 

If you have been watching the games, what did you especially enjoy?

Any other thoughts to share on the World Cup?

Credit to firestorm200 from Open Clip Art Libray

Let's be altruistic!

The Washington Kids Post featured an interesting study about people learning to help others. It was in the article entitled A Little Help. This study showed that toddlers as young as 18 months are altruistic, being helpful just to be nice. The study concluded with the statement that the desire to help is a uniquely human trait. Examples given were donations to charity, recycling for the environment, and giving up a prime subway seat to an older person. The point was made that none of these things give people much benefit beyond feeling good about helping others.

 I liked the closing question best:

So, whom have you helped today?

So share a time you helped someone either today or at some other time. How did it make you feel? How about the person you helped? Let’s be altruistic!

Let us hear your voices on this education poll

A poll on CNN showed that parents and teachers disagree on a large range of topics concerning education. Here are a few of the results of the survey:

1. 73% of teachers say they know more than their students about learning tools available on the Internet. 57% of parents say they know more than parents.
2. 71% of teachers say class work and homework is the best way to measure academic success. 63% of parents say the same. A minority of both groups favored test scores.
3. 79% of teachers say high schools do a good job, if not better, in preparing students for college. 67% of parents agree.
4. 43% of parents say low expectations of students is a serious problem. 54% of teachers say the same.

There is more of interest to read in the entire article. Pick a number and write your opinion about the statement. Then let us hear your voice. Guess the percentage and how you think the poll would have went if students of these parents and teachers had participated in the poll.

Of course, we would love to hear other voices, too! What's your opinion?

Interview with Morgan Freeman

   by  Nathan Congleton 

 

Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes interviewed Morgan Freeman. The title of the interview article is "Morgan Freeman Defies Labels." Freeman is 68 years old and he still stays very active and busy.  He was in four films this year and narrated two others. He plans to be in four more next year.

 

Some facts:

• Freeman goes out sailing by himself. He enjoys the challenge.
• He sees a star as someone people go to see. He sees actors as the reason people go to see the story the actor is in.
• He says he was drawn to acting by birth. "I was born to do it." He realized his calling at age 12. He said, "I can do that."
• He always had a desire to learn to fly. He tackled that at age 65.

His opinions:

• He thinks the Mississippi flag, with its confederate emblem should be changed.
• He finds Black History Month "ridiculous."
• He believes we should stop saying white man and black man. People should be known by their names.
• He finds the annual Oscar race demeaning to the nominees.

He ended up the interview saying life had been good to him. He feels that his job is to be good to it. He said that the way to be good to life is to live it.

Mike Wallace found Morgan Freeman to be a man who indeed defies labels. He shows no sign of slowing down, off-screen or on. Imagine yourself years later and you have reached the age of 68. Have fun and tell us the challenges you would take and some facts about how you are living your life. Have fun with your comments on this one. I bet we'll have lots of interesting reading.

Weigh in on the backpack issue

There is concern about the average backpack load carried by school kids. Reseachers from the University of California in San Diego's School of Medicine think that too much backpack weight puts too much pressure on a child's shoulders. This can cause pain and an uneven backpack load could contribute to low back pain.

The article, A Weighty Issue, goes on to report that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports about 7,500 emergency room visits each year that are caused by injuries related to backpacks or book bags. That's a lot of injuries!

The researchers hope their  study will improve the way future backpacks are designed.

Here are some tips the article suggests to prevent a backpack-related injury:

• Your backpack should never weigh more than anywhere from 15 to 20 percent of your total body weight.
• Pack the heaviest items closest to your back.
• Use both shoulder straps to balance the backpack’s weight between your shoulders.
• Adjust the shoulder and waist straps so that the backpack fits close to your body and the weight is evenly distributed along your back.
• Stop often at school lockers and remove items you don't need, if possible.
• Use both knees when you bend down.
• Learn back-strengthening exercises to build up the muscles used to carry a backpack.
• Consider using a backpack that has wheels.
• Suggest that teachers consider the weight of the homework they assign, not just the amount.

So, I hope you are following these tips! Can you think of any others to add or do you have any other solutions? Weigh in on the backpack issue!

Punishment: Agree or disagree?

Tasha Henderson is a mom who lives in Oklahoma. She got tired of her 14-year-old daughter's poor grades, chronic school tardiness, and classroom back-talk. So she decided to teach her daughter a lesson. She made Coretha stand at a busy Oklahoma City intersection holding a cardboard sign that read: "I don't do my homework and I act up in school, so my parents are preparing me for my future. Will work for food." The mother said, "This may not work, I'm not a professional."  There has been a lot of public response to this incident. Some have cheered the mom and felt she cared another to do something that might change her daughter's behavior. Others have felt that the punishment was psychologically damaging to the daughter. One passing motorist called the police and an Oklahoma City police officer took a report. The police asked the mother and daughter to leave but no citation was issued.

Tasha Henderson said her daughter's attendance has been perfect and her behavior has been better since the incident. The daughter said the punishment was humiliating but said it got her attention. Coretha had already been forced by her parents to give up basketball and track because of slipping grades. She said she hopes to improve in school so she can play again. Read more details in the article, "Wayward student stuck on corner."

So what do you think?  If you agree with the punishment give your reasons. If you don't agree, propose an alternate solution.