PEER 2020

PE​ER​ 20​20

Literary Works from GSWLA World Literature and Composition I

Tallwood High School June 2020

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PE​ER​ 20​20 NOTE from Editor:

2020 was a year of vision and speculation, and the blurring of those visions and speculations. Months of classes and build up, to many, seemed to be wiped out by this very historic year that turned physical classes into virtual ones. Just the same, students of my World Literature and Composition class worked throughout the months leading up to the physical closing of schools with multiple writings, and some of them made it into this anthology. Others were created during the COVID-19 shutdown, when school turned into a place with Emergency Learning Plans. Concerns shifted to making sure everyone had what they needed to access the school work, and of equal import, how to survive the months’ long stay at home orders.

The weekend in which I first wrote these words represented a horrific milestone; the following weekend was a reminder of another one. At the time of the first draft of this writing, 100,000 Americans died of the CoronaVirus. Although I personally did not have any loved one suffer from its horrific effects, I have close friends who’ve lost family members; I have students (some of them in this very cohort) who are presently grieving the loss of a grandparent, an aunt, or an uncle.

The weekend coming up marks a dark time in Virginia Beach history and represents the one year anniversary of the Municipal Building shooting on May 31st, 2019. This happened by my home, and I have my own story of what could have happened to a member of my family, a story thankfully I won’t need to tell, but one that involved simply being in the right turning lane at the right time. Just the same, I don’t know how this weekend is going to be for me.

Certainly writing’s soul function is not its sole function. And variety is what readers will get in this edition of Peer.

What readers will see here is a compilation of the work of some young writers, early in their careers. The students were challenged to create 12 publishable pieces of writing and some of them really did. This year’s students, the eighth to do the “12 pieces” took the challenge to heart. Some actually got published in outside online magazines, many writings found their way to the school Literary Magazine (LIT X), and quite a few made it into a student founded, student run literary magazine called ​Literary Sanctuary​.

Even though many classes have done the assignment, this is only our third edition of Peer; we’ve Peer 2016, Peer 2019, and this one, Peer 2020. The year is the year students finished their first year at the Global Studies and World Languages Academy, not the year of their graduation. To see the editions of “Peer”, please please visit: https://issuu.com/demottissuu/docs/peer_2016​ .

As in prior editions, I’ve attempted to rearrange the pieces in a sensible order, reformat pieces if needed, and title untitled pieces, occasionally adding an explanatory note. Despite this, please

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know that the work, the concepts, and the construction of the writing is solely the original authors. Any errors, or lapses of judgment are mine and mine alone.

EDM, May 28, 2020

As I prepare for the presentation of these contents in an event entitled “Sharefest”, I update this document, and am reminded that in the short time between the first draft and the update, the murder of George Floyd has layered yet another historic movement upon what is already historic. Protests, riots, and looting dominate the news as tens of thousands of people react to his death globally, and in Virginia alone, both Richmond and Virginia Beach were put on curfew. These things, and the thousands of untold things take a toll on the human spirit, and my hope is that my students, who’ve revealed quite a bit to me in our shortened year (remember the “reading your soul” thing we did), my hope is that they will realize and embrace the idea that writing is not a cure for the ills of the world, but it is a therapeutic means to cope.

EDM, Updated June 4, 2020

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Table of Contents

Things of the Heart

Heartstring Tugging Stuff

Things of the Head

Intellectual & Researched Stuff

Things of the Bones

Deep Stuff

Things of the Arms

Embracing New Stuff

Things of the Legs

Journeys: Inner and Outer

Things of the Eyes

Observations of Stuff

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Contributors (Class of 2023)

Introduction:​ Earl C. De Mott

Heart:

Paytyn Carr, Arianna Lawton, Hunter Tufarelli, Brenna Pope, Despina Drosinos, Danielle Crabtree, Avery Coleman, Reese Joyce Olazo, Kayla Blake, Ashiya Lawrence, Ashli Perez, Crystal Vargas, Kasumi Hall, Hiba Aslam, Mollie Donovan, Elizabeth Telkamp, Roi Dela Cruz,Heaven Glover, Marissa Whyte, De’Esca Stancel, C.J. Mainor, Alana Whiteside

Head:

Kendall Hayes,Callie Weeks, Molly Meinen, Coren Huff, Lydia Sachet, Eliza Hendrick, Katrina Krueger, Tucker LaRue, Gyzelle Kay Bagsic, Grace Medina, Kaden Ellison, Tariq Harold, Theo Pahl, Amanda Cardenas, Caleb Vakos, Kasey Hernandez-Molina, Bryan Ortiz, Elizabeth McCardle-Blunk, Abigail Saint Fleur

Bones:

Amanda Terveer, Zarria Russell, Micah Poynton, Laniyah Buchanan, Amani Anderson, Kaine Durning, Curtis Price, Sutton Shull, Cameron Fortuna, Ethan Merry, Inaissa Sylla, Matt Cirbo, Linna Deng, Camryn Ruth, Helena Elatheratos, Alana Kronenburg, Solana Lamoso, Issa Garcia

Arms:

Taylor Nixon, Mallory Kopin, Mina Weisenburger, Ao Sterner, Ellagrace Kays, Jenna Hendrich, Arrow Honiball, Seth Whipple, Jordan Nathan, Salima Juarez, Anayris Sepulveda Sanchez, Samantha Dickerson, Kade (Kiera) Piro, Juan Santiago Smith-Jordan

Legs:

Andrew Hyams, Bradley Martin, Kelsey Freeman, Isabella Bejarano,Martina Ortiz,Stephanie Badillo, William Rapp, Camani Hill, Julia Dziegielewski, Ariel Fletcher, Cassie Smith, Ashley Burns, Nicholas Espinosa, Melanie Hewitt, Jayla Rice, Maeve Ragno

Eyes:

Arielle Walker, Anaya Aurthur, Jennifer Yang, Elijah King, Charles Calevas, Ashlynn Clayton, Evanthia Bantelas,Amanda Vallieres,Oath Balane, Grace Weeks, Antonella Harison, Riley Leblanc, Alex Shade, Marli Hynes,Lindsey Kester, Mary Dacuba, Birdie Abina, Madelyn (Duh) O’Neal

Appendix: ​Earl C. De Mott

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Thanks to the Contributing Authors as well as our guests.

“Sharefest” was held on Friday, June 5, 2020 as a GoogleMeet ( ​https://meet.google.com/qxh-wyup-zgv​) and a recording can be found at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TsA9erMKROFy3zsGp-cjuvpeE2PkjSna/view

This document is at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W35lP5EAEsJ20a0UZaizG-rMM3lzKNX uA8LOHt_MDMw/edit#

A number of students were in attendance as well as special guests Rachel Crist Lizan, LMC and Kathleen Jorge, a THS alum and Virginia Tech Creative Writing student.

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Appendix “Goodbye Speech” EDM to the Class of 2024

Every year I give a goodbye speech to my class. Here's this year's short speech.

If I were giving you my goodbye speech in the classroom today, I would say simply: stand up for what is right. Do not let dis-tractors fog over the simplicity of that message.

Do not let speech givers and opinion writers turn your head away from the actual story, the actual message you are supposed to get from it.

Listen with the intent to listen, not with the intent to speak; speak with the intent to convey a message, not to fall into the trap of attacking a person instead of the message.

Read completely; write completely; speak completely.

Be careful of reading the headlines only; be conscious of what is not reported as much as what is reported; do not dismiss a source simply because it comes from a viewpoint other than your own; do not accept a source simply because it comes from a viewpoint that is your own.

Be aware of the logical fallacies that run rampant in the world, but do not grow so cynical that you believe everything is a logical fallacy; understand that there are manipulators in the world, but know that there is a world of people with good intent.

When emotions run high, ask why; when there is a cold calculated logical argument laid out, ask what effects this has on an individual person, a group of people. We are complex creatures; we can neither survive on emotional reactions alone, nor statistical explanations.

Sometimes standing up means lying down with your hands behind your back in protest to make transparent to the world what is being done to our brothers and our sisters.

Do not believe the Us and Them Fallacy that divides, nor ignore the differences that exist in order to comfortably say "we are all the same". If that were true, there'd be no variations.

Recognize injustice as such. Recognize that people live within systems, and that systems can create justice or injustice. Call for change in systems so that there can be change in people.

But above all else, let love, actual love, guide you to notice those around you, embrace what is good around you without ignoring the bad, and strive to be the agent of change for that which needs changing.

Earl C. De Mott, Educator, June 4, 2020

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