Albemarle 2016 by The Fessenden School

ALBEMARLE 2016

Fessenden Boys Grades 59 Dedication and Thanks The 2016 Albemarle is dedicated to the Teachers and Staff of Fessenden in recognition of the enthusiasm for learning they inspire in the boys.

Many thanks to Marjie Hendrick, the English Department Faculty, Richard Gaskell, the Art Department Faculty, and the Parents Association for their help in making the publication of the 2016 Albemarle possible.

Cover Art by Charlie Moore, grade 8

Albemarle

Grade 9

2016

Contributors Grade 5 Aiden Barclay Carter Bartel Chris Bertolini Bennett Carroll Daniel Drucker Ketan Gardner Max Gelb Michael Glazer Ben Gliklich Sebastian Goldberg Freddy Hoffman Tommy Hunnewell William Hutzler Amir Jamal Bryn Kerslake Ethan Klein Jonathan Mack Chase McDivitt Ryan McGauley Kumar Muniappan Drew Pepi Sid Pradhan Jaemin Shin Hunter Stofer Lachlan Sutton Aaron Weiner Spencer Szik Grade 6 Spencer Ankner Blake Ankner Charlie Bacon Michael Berman Daniel Bittner John Broderick Christopher Eaton Owen Erdman Joseph Fandrey John Fazli Oliver Frantzis Cormac Gallagher Ryan Gallant Max Hall

Campbell Hawkins Shep Hearle Jack Henderson Charlie Irwin Jack Jervis William Ji Daniel Jiang Andrew JohnstonKetterer Noah Kalvelage Benjamin Katz Nate Krawshuk Charlie Lavallee Luis Lee Ben MacDonald Cameron Mackenzie Rhodes Martinez Kieran McCabe Quinn Mullaney Ryan Noble Takuma Noguchi PJ O'Rourke Shy Odom Niki Page Davin Pandian Anthony Pepi Connor Provencher Tommy Reynolds Ted Richards Thomas Romney Peyton Rose Jack Ryan John Ryan Vincent Shea Fin Sisson Matthew Smalley Alex Soderling Drew Stephans Gage Tereau Spencer Vermeule Peter Visco Charles Wang Chris Weitzel Avery Wirth

Grade 7 Yusuke Abe Emmanuel Aweke Kamran Bina Will Callewaert Mike Choi Will Creevy Christian Eikeboom Bennett Fici Cameron Gaisford Christopher Hostetter David Jeong Ian Kaplan Jake Koeppel James Lammert Zack Le Roy Duwon Lee Kyle Levine Ryan Levine Wyatt Lyons Jack Mackey Teddy Macri Duncan McCarthy Lawson Miller Koller Phillips Malkie Shamari Jangmin Song Stephen Warming Charlie Wells Adrian Wirth William Zhuang Grade 8 Tom Banse Collins Billhardt Alastair Bock Stephen Bruning Jimmy Chey Felix Cutler Max de SaintExupery Abe Dekin Ethan DiTullio Alan Du Jake Elkins

Albemarle Grade 9 2016

Wyatt Ellison Daniel Fadely Larkin Flanagan Myles Foster John Fritz Nicholas Gabrieli Ricardo Garcia Teddy GemmellHughes Jose Hernaiz Louis Hoffmann Ethan JohnsonLeComte Andres Kaneb Gabriel Kendja Aidan Klein Zachary Kornfeld Ryan Mach Charlie Moore Mann Pandya Preston Plazner Max Rudnick Eddie Schwartz Connor Simko Trevor Simboli Vandrey Sisson Jacob Smalley Emmett Smith Oliver Stought Joe Todd Toby Urell Venkat Vellanki Mosi Williams Cole Zetterquist Blane Zhu Grade 9 Ugochukwu Achara Michael Allieri Jackson AvilaConnerney Andoni Barberena Ethan Bastien James Broderick Connor Burke Owen Cecil Justin Chae Diego Corcuera Ryan Fang Eugene Hu Jimmy Hu

Braedon Levine Jonathan Lin Mikel Linero Nick Luzzo Ben McCabe Andrew Moon Azat Mukhametkulov Taiyo Olorode Peter Pochinok Illia Rebechar Galym Sarkytbayev Dom Scordino Francis Shea Tucker Simonsen Rahul Singh Henry Su Sam Teixeira Will Thibodeau Logan Tonra Lincoln Wang Henry Wilde Michael Watson Ryan Welch Rintaro Yamamoto

Art by Amir Jamal Art by Spencer Zwick

Art by Carter Bartel Art by Ryan Mc(auley

Art by Max Gelb

Art by Sebastian Goldberg 5

Art by Chris Bertolini

Art by Bennett Carroll & Daniel Drucker

Art by Bennett Carroll

Art by Carter Bartel

Art by Kumar Muniappan 6

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Bird Adaptation Journal Ethan Klein I kept on exploring this paradise, until I came across a huge bird bigger than me. I got really scared because of his size and his mean looks. Then out of nowhere he said, “Hello.” “Um, Hi.” I replied. “What are you doing here in a suburb of Dubai?” The huge bird asked. “What is Dubai?” I asked, confused. “It is a city near where we are right now.” He said. “Oh. What are you doing here?” I asked” “I am a falcon. I live in the biome of Dubai, the arid.” He said. “Can we explore this Dubai place a little more? It sounds cool.” “Sure, no problem.” He said, kindly. Me and the falcon started our way towards Dubai. Mid way through our flight I noticed a huge building. “What is that huge building?” I asked, curiously. “That my friend is the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.” The falcon said, with his deep voice. “Neat. Can we perch on top of it?” I asked “Sure. But do you think you have strong enough wings to get all the way to the top?” The Falcon asked. “I stretched my wings and made them much stronger over my journey.” I told him. “That will do.” The falcon said. We started our journey to the top of the Burj Khalifa by swooping high up in the air. I looked back to see what the desert looked like from above, and then I realized that a big wave of sand was coming our way. “Was is that sand thingy?” I asked the falcon. “It is just a small sandstorm,” said the falcon. We kept our route towards the Burj Khalifa until we were about to land on the tip of it. Once we landed on the top of it I looked down at the city of Dubai. It was the most amazing sight I had ever seen. I looked around a little more. I noticed that the sandstorm was coming closer, and coming fast. “Are you sure this is a small sandstorm?” I asked. “Yes, positive. Not a bad view, huh? He asked. “It is the most amazing sight I have ever seen” I said, as the sandstorm was nearing. That was when I was blown off my feet and off the building. I yelled for my new friend, the falcon. But I couldn't hear him reply. I was now falling vertically down from the Burj Khalifa. I was going so fast I could not get control of my wings. I tried as hard as I could but I still could not get them to help me fly. I tried as hard as I could knowing if I failed I would die. Then all of the sudden my wings felt strong and indestructible. I started flying out of the storm not knowing where I was going. I flew for a little while until I got completely out of the storm. I landed on the sand in the middle of the desert, and decided that even though I just had a terrible experience, with adaptations I would live happily there.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Speech Contest Essay Reflections Jaemin Shin I was so nervous at the speech contest, and then I saw a huge stage which made me more nervous because I thought I would need to give a speech there next year. There were more than 300 people. I heard lots of people and saw crowds of students, and the giant room was extremely noisy. The Fessenden School ELL students were trying out for the speech contest. We were heading to the Nashoba Brooks School in Massachusetts, 30 minutes from our school. It happened last Sunday, and it took all day. We were trying out for a speech contest and had to listen to other people’s speeches and think about how they did and how they used the the speaking skills Ms. Coney taught us. We weren't trying to get the 1st place at the speech contest, we were practicing our skills. It was my first time going to a speech contest. We just wanted to get some experience with giving speeches. This speech contest made me feel more relaxed about how it was going to be at the next speech contest. I took my speech contest seriously, but I didn’t drop any work like Membean, Quizlet or ORB (Outside Re ading Book). Outside of class, I practiced with Mrs. Eveleth and Takuma and we talked about facial expressions, tones of voice, and tried to move some eyebrows to make a realistic face. It was actually hard to change my face during the speech, because I needed to memorize the story I chose, too. I also practiced changing my tone of voice, and I think I can change my voice pretty well, but when I am so nervous, I forget to change the tone of my voice and I mumble a lot. I think I need to be more aware. I also practiced with Takuma during BSS study hall time. We were memorizing our speech, and we were doing some hand gestures and changing the tone of our voice, while moving our eyebrows, too. I was surprised that Takuma almost memorised his declamation, so I worked as hard as him. After the last day when I practiced my speech, Sunday began, and I woke up at 6:00 in the morning to met other ELL students in the dining hall. Since I am a 5th grader, I could not join, so I had to shadow somebody in ELL class. I chose Martin. We had a quick breakfast and then we left after 30 minutes. We arrived at the NBN school and then, we waited at the dining hall in the NBN school for 15 minutes. There were a total of three rounds. ELL students filled out their sheets that the judges would be grading for their category. During the whole round, I kept shadowing Martin. After round one, we gathered in the dining hall again. We had some snacks and then we went back into separate classes, which were going to be our next contest room. After round two, we had lunch, which was a Subway sandwich. There were three things which I learned from the speech contest. First, memorization. I thought the other people were going to be half memorized like me, but I was totally wrong. The contestants almost memorized their whole speeches like my friend Takuma. Those students only had to use their speech binder as a guide. They did not rely on it. I was so surprised that they memorised the whole speech. Second, I noticed something about the length of my speech. My speech was about 4 minutes and 59 seconds or sometimes 5 minutes, but the other people were 6 minutes 30 seconds or 7 minutes. They were really relaxed and talked at a normal pace. When people get nervous, they speak too fast and mumble, but the people at the speech contest did the opposite of getting nervous. They seemed like professionals. After the speech contest, I think the Fessy boys, especially me, needed to work harder on speech material, by giving it more of our time, because I saw that there were lots of people who were not nervous and doing well at their speeches. At the speech contest, The Pike School got almost all the prizes, and I was not really surprised, because they practiced a lot more than us. When I saw that The Pike School received so many prizes, I told to myself that I will work harder like The PIke School students did. The speech contest was a really interesting and surprising experience.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Hammurabi Code versus MS Code Of Conduct Aaron Weiner “Hey Mrs. McMullen, nice rule”, said King Hammurabi sarcastically, “People should only get expelled for punching a fellow classmate.” “Fine then King Hammurabi, but I am the Dean of Students and you are only the King of Babylon,” Mrs. McMullen said shyly. “Here take a seat,” said Mrs. McMullen. “Look, we are similar in many ways. One way that we are similar is we both make rules, however we are very different at the same time, you have punishments that can hurt people. I have punishments that people feel bad about. When children hit their dad they should not get their hands cut off. Nobody should get hurt. Your rules should not be based on lex talionis. Listen, King...” “That’s right I am the King!” King Hammurabi bellowed. “You are a King that died in 1750 BC,” Mrs. McMullen said furiously. “Wow, I feel so offended,” said the King sarcastically “Well fine, but I am keeping that rule,” Mrs. McMullen said. “Okay well listen to my rule; If boys misbehave at our schools, they will get whipped,” said King Hammurabi smartly. “King, that is so absurd. It is a rule in my school that you cannot whip people”, Mrs. McMullen said. “Mrs. McMullen, why can you not whip people?” “Well...I make the rules for the middle school, not you!” Mrs. McMullen bellowed. “Furthermore.” Mrs. McMullen calmly continued, “We need to follow the law and should not hurt children.” “Well anyway let's go do something else. Do you want to see Babylon?” “No or at least not until you change your rules as King. Mrs. Cluff’s class read your laws,” said Mrs. McMullen like she has won the argument. “Well I get to do what I want to do with my laws,” said King Hammurabi. “Now let's go to lunch,” said Mrs. McMullen. “I agree,” the King said adamantly. At lunch Mrs. McMullen and King Hammurabi chatted and chatted. They talked about what makes a great ruler. Mrs. McMullen took the King around to each lunch table so they could meet all the teachers. Mrs. McMullen first brought the King to Mr. Jackson. “Hi Mr. Jackson. My name is King Hammurabi, but you can call me King for short,” the King said kindly. “Hey King, did you see that win that the Steelers had last night. It was so cool they didn’t even have to kick.” Mr. Jackson said. “I do not know what you are talking about,” King Hammurabi said. “I guess you weren’t watching the game. Did you see the Penguins game? It was ” “Mr. Jackson can I talk to you for a second,” Mrs. McMullen said. They when to the back room and talked. “Mr. Jackson, this is a ruler of Babylon, please just know that American sports talk is boring for him,” Mrs. McMullen told Mr. Jackson. After talking, Mr. Jackson and Mrs. McMullen went back in the lunchroom. Mr. Jackson and King Hammurabi finished their conversation. “Thanks so much for your time Mr. Jackson, now King Hammurabi, let's go over and talk to Ms. O’Hara.” “Hi I am Ms. O’Hara, nice to meet you King Hammurabi. How are you?” Ms. O’Hara said trying to act as nice as she could.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “I’m fine, thanks for asking,” the King said. Ms. O’Hara and all the other teachers had a fun time talking with King Hammurabi, but nobody like talking to King Hammurabi better than Mrs. Cluff. She and the King talked for hours. They talked and talked and talked. “Mrs. Cluff, can I come into one of you classes someday so I can help you teach your students about me?” asked King Hammurabi “Sure of course, I would like that very much. I also think my students would like it,” said Mrs. Cluff. The next day King Hammurabi told everyone that he was heading back to Babylon, but will come to visit sometime soon. He hopped on his Jet Blue flight to Babylon and was off. When King Hammurabi arrived in Babylon, he told everyone how weird things were in the United States and how they should join him on his next trip to Fessenden. Orpheus Ketan Gardner Orpheus had a lyre and he played the most beautiful music. Then one day he met a women named Eurydice and they got married. Then when Eurydice was walking in the woods a snake bit her ankle and she died by the time Orpheus got the news. He was so sad that his wife died so he decided to go to the underworld to try and bring her back. When he arrived in the Underworld, he asked where Eurydice was and then she stepped forward when she heard her name. Orpheus asked Pluto if he could bring her back. Pluto told Orpheus he could bring her back to life if he brought her all the way back into the light, but he could not look at Eurydice or talk to her. So he did just that. When he walked out into the light, he looked back at Eurydice . he was out in the light, but she was one step away from getting out. Orpheus was so sad and he started to play music and some maidens heard him play. They said they wanted to marry him but he said he would not love anyone but Eurydice. Well then, the maidens got mad and started throwing spears and shooting arrows at Orpheus but his music protected him. Then they started to scream and the sound drained out the sound of the music. Sadly, their arrows and spears killed him. Then the maidens threw him in the river along with the broken lyre! His body decomposed into flowers. That is why the flowers and other things in a meadow or valley are so beautiful. The moral I see for Orpheus is that you should think twice before doing something. The myth explains why the stars form the shape of lyre and why things in meadows and valleys are so pretty. My first name is Ketan and it means “A Special Place” and my last name, which is Gardner, means “A Weapon.”

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Female Roaring Cardinal Carter Bartel It has been three days since the sad death of Shwarty and I am just leaving the Himalayas. I saw that bird again and I thought that he would come and talk to me soon. Traveling through the mountains, I had a hard time seeing until the end, where my eyesight developed and I could see better. I had just left the mountains, and made my way to the grassy flatlands, that I realized how far I had come and how much I had accomplished. I was thinking this and then I saw a big sign that said: Welcome To The Royal Chitwan National Park, Nepal. I was so excited. I had made it! I came in and saw all of the different animals and plants living there. To my delight, I saw a lot a green pit vipers slithering around. I saw a tortoise and it came up to me but I bit its leg. To my surprise, it tasted really good. My beak had changed over the journey and it was really easy to bite into its flesh. I was so happy as I explored my new home that I forgot about the bird. It snuck up on me from behind, and jumped on me and started attacking! “What are you doing!” I chirped as I tried to defend myself. “I want to be the first bird to travel this long, not you,” he said with a deep crackly voice. I realized he was a Northern Mockingbird, and I remembered how I had always hated those birds. “Well if it’s a fight you want, then let’s have it,” I had challenged. He had raged and started attacking me full force. By this time, a lot of other animals had seen what was going on. They came around to watch the fight and started cheering. I let out a big bellowing roar, and I saw the Mockingbird tremble in fear. “I will not lose!” He screeched. “We’ll see about that,” I said under my breath as I launched another attack. It was at this time that I had realized that the other animals were cheering for me. “Go bird!” they cheered. “Go Female Roaring Cardinal!” I liked my new name, and I thought it suited me well. We fought and fought and fought. I scratched here, and then he slashed there. The cheering for me brought me courage and I started roaring none stop. I loved how my body had changed to let me roar like this. I knew I had to win. For Zeneel, for Shwarty. It was at that time when I promised I would win, because Zeneel had wanted me to finish the journey for him, and I knew Shwarty would have wanted the same. We fought and fought and fought for hours and hours. I had been getting tired, but I knew that the Mockingbird was too. I flew to the ground and grabbed a green pit viper. I was immune, but my opponent was not. I bit off its head, and threw his body to the ground. Then I threw the head at the Mockingbird and the teeth sank past his feathers and into his flesh. He immediately fell to the ground, screaming in pain. He begged and begged for mercy and it was kind of painful to watch him die right in front of us. I told him how to become immune and he did, and then he laid down, gasping for air. Some of the birds cheering for me picked up the Northern Mockingbird and threw him into a cargo plane going to an island full of trash in the Mediterranean Sea. All of the birds treated me like a king. I had won!

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Stopover in Jamaica Ben Gliklich When I flew through the air I thought of what it would be like in Jamaica. Would it be great weather like in Florida or would it be cold like in Boston? It gradually got warmer over the course of the flight, so I knew that it would be warm in the islands. When I arrived in Jamaica I napped a little since I had flown for quite a while. Then, when I woke up I toured around Jamaica and fished with my newly adapted beak, able to fish and peck. Next, I checked Baze and I was right near a mineral spring. At the mineral spring, I rested and swam. It was very calming, but I only stayed a short time. Later on, after the spring, I went flying up and down the hills, even past some more springs and lakes. Suddenly, I stopped and saw a shipwreck. It had looked so interesting! So, I flew down past the fence blocking it and I stopped right on the deck. The only thing that I had not seen was the “DO NOT ENTER, PRIVATE PROPERTY” sign before the fence. On the deck all the wood was split and cracked. But, that didn’t stop me. I opened the door below the deck and went inside right in the nick of time, as a piece of wood flew at my crown. I didn’t know what was happening, when all of a sudden I heard footsteps and a loud booming voice. “I want that birdie no matter what, dead or alive” said the voice. Oh no I had thought. What was I to do? Should I hide or try to make a fly for it? “I know you are in there little bird” said the voice again. Finally, I decided that I would have to do what I was best at. Peck at the wood on the deck. So, I pecked and pecked and pecked until I had completely taken apart enough room for me to squeeze through. Then, I flew as fast as my wings could take me, all the way past the springs, past the lakes, and on top of a giant tree. There on the tree, I packed up all of my belongings and decided that I would fly down to Columbia the next morning. Romulus Kumar Muniappan Romulus and Remus were born in Alba Longa. The two brothers were supposed to be killed by letting them drown but instead they floated down the river until a she wolf found them and raised them. When the she wolf was getting food, a shepherd found them and raised them until they were 12. Remus stole from robbers and persuaded Romulus to join him but they got captured and brought to the king of Alba Longa but the king said his brother could deal with them. the two of them killed the king and then his brother became king. His brother was happy and gave his brother men and materials to build a city. The two brothers fought: who would be the leader?... but Remus was killed by Romulus and then Romulus founded the city of Rome with a few men. It was a successful plan and then they captured Alba Longa and made them part of Rome. The moral lesson is to work together and to not argue. I think that is why Romulus killed Remus I think they could have compromised. It explains how rome was founded and what they do to become successful started as a city of great power. He founded rome and he was a fighting guy so he wanted to battle which made his city much bigger. My name mostly means Prince and it is usually a middle name in India. My middle name means god or good spirit.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Story of Bellerophon and Pegasus Michael Glazer Bellerophon was the Greek son of Glaucus the king of Corinth, but people thought that he was the son of Poseidon because he loved horses like Poseidon. Bellerophon was just a normal prince. Until one day when he was riding through a field and he saw Pegasus drinking from a stream. Suddenly he had an urge to ride Pegasus through the sky. He tried multiple times but failed. So he went the temple of Athena and slept because he knew that god's usually spoke with people when they were asleep. When Athena appeared, she gave him a bridle to tame Pegasus. The next day he went to the field, walked up to Pegasus and put the bridle on Pegasus, and rode him. When the king’s wife saw that Bellerophon rode Pegasus, she started to like him. The king instantly hated Bellerophon because he was jealous that his wife liked Bellerophon. So he sent Bellerophon with a letter to a nearby castle. When Bellerophon got there, the king first accepted the letter but got distracted by Pegasus. Then the king invited Bellerophon to stay for a week. Bellerophon accepted. At the end of the week the king remembered about the letter. When he opened it he was confused the letter said kill whoever delivers this letter. He couldn't kill a guest himself. So he sent Bellerophon on the dangerous quest to kill Chimera. Bellerophon went and came back with Chimera’s head. He had killed the beast by throwing a lead tipped spear into its mouth so when the lead melted in Chimera’s fiery breath it burned his insides. Then the kings sent him on many other journeys. Bellerophon naturally became more famous every time. Until he got so famous that he thought he deserved to live in Olympus, with the gods. But Pegasus was smarter and thought not. So he bucked Bellerophon off his back. When Bellerophon hit earth he automatically became unknown and weak. Pegasus had a totally different ending. He was put in Olympus’s stables. Then when he died Zeus made him into a consolation.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Ode to Swimming Hunter Stofer Water dripping down my face Splashing water behind my racing feet The goggles the butterfly the Freestyle the breaststroke and my favorite is the backstroke. The beauty of the drops of water in the clean air. The silk water when the sun is gleaming. The push and pull, my hands pulling and my feet pushing, the cooled water brushing my skin. The cheering of my fans and the crash of my hands of fury, the splash of my speed feet. you are my favorite sport you are fun in my hand and are fun in my feet. When I go faster, farther, freestyle first, because the water was pushing me and telling me not to stop because I will never lose. For me swimming is the best you will see.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Hercules Sid Pradhan Hercules was a great hero. His dad was Jupiter and he was the god of the sky. His mom was a mortal women named Alcmene. Juno, Jupiter’s other wife hated her husband’s other wives and hated even more so the mortal children of her husband. Since Hercules was mortal she hated Hercules too. When Hercules was just a baby she sent two snakes to kill him. Late at night Hercules’s mom went to check on him all of a sudden she screamed. When his father came to see what was wrong after hearing his wife scream it looked like nothing had happened. But, what did happen was that there were two dead snakes that had been strangled laying on the floor dead. After that moment his parents knew he was special. Ever since that moment Juno kept on putting challenges in his way. Jupiter didn’t do anything because he wanted to prove his son was a powerful son. When Hercules grew older Juno thought of something known today as the 12 Labors. The first labor was to kill the Nemean Lion . The second labor was to slay the Hydra, which is very challenging because if you cut off one head two more grow back. The third labor was to capture the Ceryneian Hind which is very difficult because the hind is swift and agile. The fourth labor was to capture the Erymanthian Boar. Labor five was to clean the Augean Stables, which is extremely smelly because the haven’t been cleaned in 30 years. Labor six was to defeat the Stymphalian Birds. Labor seven was to capture the Cretan Bull. Labor eight was to steal the Mares of Diomedes. Labor nine was to obtain the Girdle of Hippolyte. Labor ten was to steal the Cows of Geryon. Labor 11 was to steal the Golden Apples of the Hesperides which can heal anything. He had to do because his true love was very sick after being struck by a poison arrow and needed the apples to cure her. Labor 12 was to capture Cerberus who is guarding the gates of hell. Hercules’s cousin Eurystheus was the king of Mycenae, he was a weak little man who despised Hercules’s strength. Since Juno knew this she had Eurystheus think of the hardest tasks for Hercules. After every labor Hercules completed he would report it to Eurystheus. When he finished all 12 labors, Juno forgave and even accepted Hercules to be a god because of his courageousness and his persistence. The myth of Hercules teaches you a lesson that bravery and honor conquers all. At the end of Hercules’ story, Juno accepts Hercules because of his heart, bravery and his persistence to keep fighting. Hercules becomes a part of the culture and religion of the Greeks and Romans and he becomes one of their gods. The Greeks and Romans valued and respected Hercules for his courageousness and most of all because of his heart. My name is Sidhu and it is a short form of Siddhartha. Siddhartha was a great Indian prince who gave all of his money, horses, and belongings to people who needed them more than he did. Through his travels and life experiences he became enlightened and became the Buddha. Pradhan translates to “prime minister.” The Oxford HindiEnglish Dictionary says the more modern Hindi definitions also include "chief" and "leader”.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Griffin Vulture Lachlan Sutton 17 days had passed Max and I had flown with an easy wind down to Mexico then to Massachusetts. There had been an occasional flurry or small rain storm but nothing major. On March 17 we reached the glorious Massachusetts. Just as I had heard the rumors were true. Max and I had adapted minimally over the way. But there was one big problem Food. We would have to find nesting and a place to stay or we would die from all of these metal objects that sped across a road three times faster than either of us. We flew into the morning sky and the crisp sweet air came into our lungs and hung there. We looked where there would be anything to eat, but there was still nothing. “ Max where should to get water and food?” “I am not sure, but we can ask those birds on that long wire.” We flew to the wire, and asked a small bird where there is food. “Shut up and mind your own business!” The bird said to Max. I had to use all my might to hold Max back from killing the bird. “I guess these birds are not very nice.” I said. Max was still enraged by the birds comment to him. “Lets look for a place to build a nest.” We flew up into the air to see if we could spot any places to build a nest, but there were not any ledges to build it on. We had not eaten for three days and we were starving. We could not find any dead animals to eat. We needed to find a place to build a nest and quickly. Then we spotted it a huge tree. “ I should have known” I muttered to myself. “Max we could build a nest in that huge tree over there!” “Great idea Andrew.” For three whole hours we worked on our nest and finally finished, and it was a beauty compared to our nest in Africa. We needed something to eat quickly or we would not live to sleep in our nest. I remembered the fish! I could hunt for fish with my newly developed talons! I told Max about this idea and he was thrilled. We flew as fast as we could to the harbour and looked for a fishing boat to steal fish from, but I felt so tired I could barely move then I started falling falling falling. When I woke up Max had four dead fish and was so glad I had survived the fall and then he gave me a sleek white fish to eat .

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Bird Adaptations Journal Daniel Drucker Two days ago I began my the last part of my journey to Dubai. When I was traveling through the other places in the Middle East I came across a sand storm. This sand storm really held me back because I do not have the adaptations yet to not get the sand in my eyes. That night, I fell asleep and the next morning my eyes started to close and open really fast. I knew that this would help me survive in the desert because it gets very windy there. After going through the sandstorm I think this will really help me succeed in the desert because I know there are sandstorms. It was about 9:00 am that next morning on the eighth of March when I realized I needed to get to Dubai sooner than later. It was a very long travel to the city of Dubai that day but I had finally reached the city at about 4:00 pm. The city had very big buildings but the one thing I had to adapt to here was the oil. The oil in Dubai is a big problem because if it gets on me, my wings get very heavy and I can not fly. When I flew into the water that day I realized that my wings stayed dry. I think that it was because when I flew into the flag I got a protection from oil. That night I got some rats and other meat to eat and I went to sleep early so I could start flying to the desert tomorrow. The next morning I woke up very early and went on a food hunt to store in my food sack that will help me survive in the desert because I will not need to find food often. I got very lucky with what I found that early morning. When I started my travels to the desert it was about 11:00 am. It was a very queer travel because of all the trouble I ran into but I finally arrived in the desert. When I thought I was safe I wasn’t. I saw all of my predators coming after me it's like they followed me here. I said, “Leave me alone, stop.” It was a very hot day in the desert but the other birds were just chasing me. The hawk and eagle said, “No, you ruined our habitat, you flew away from us when we wanted you for a meal.” I said, “Well I guess the chase is on.” All of my predators started chasing me, I was being bullied. I did not know where to go so I was flying as fast as I could through the city chirping and mocking them. After mocking the birds over and over again they thought that there were more of them and I lost them. I hid on one of the tallest buildings in the world and after about 20 minutes of staying there I get back to the desert safely. I was talking to myself, “Oh my gosh I am so strong I just got away from all of my predators.” I was thinking to myself I was so happy that all of my adaptations had worked. I had all the food I could want and I became a meat eater. I was just living a perfect life here in Dubai!

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Oedipus Ben Gliklich Once upon a time there was a young man traveling, whose name was Oedipus, meaning swollen foot. He was traveling to Thebes hoping to have a great future ahead of him. He learned over time there was a monstrous creature called the Sphinx that was terrorizing Thebes. Knowing that nobody in their sane mind would stand up to the challenge of fighting the Sphinx, he decided to face the Sphinx. All the people were excited and showed him the way. When he arrived the Sphinx leaped on him and asked him a riddle, if he did not answer it correctly, he would be torn to pieces. Luckily, he used his knowledge and answered it correctly. Directly after, the Sphinx leapt into a black hole. Oedipus was crowned king and married a queen. The moral of this story is that when you come to a challenge, use your head. This is what Oedipus did when the Sphinx asked him a riddle he didn’t know right away. The morals of Oedipus’s story have been put in many cultures. The character Oedipus has been in many plays, novels, and even composers have written music about him. He not only has a legend about him, but he has appeared in many things. Although my name is not Oedipus and does not mean swollen, my first name Benjamin means son of your right hand. My last name Gliklich is a German and Polish name that means happy and lucky. El Nino and its Ripple Effects Aiden Barclay, Tommy Hunnewell, Ethan Klein, Max Gelb El Nino could be one of the be one of the biggest storms to ever hit the USA and it is getting compared to the 19971998 giant. What is El Nino and what does it mean? El Nino is a big storm that could make effect on not just this country, but the world! This storm will make the water warmer with above average temperatures in most places close to the Pacific Ocean. Most El Ninos last about 18 months so this one could go through the rest of the year but most El Ninos occur every 27 years. Where does the name El Nino come from? El Nino means “the boy” in spanish. The opposite of El Nino is La Nina which means “the girl” is spanish and La Nina makes the water colder. El Nino is a giant, but the biggest stress of it is the effects! El Nino effects a lot of countries and all around the world along with the Pacific ocean. El Nino harms the ecosystem in many ways with those effects. Because it is literally a big moving pool of hot water in the Pacific, El Nino takes most of the water from Australia, Europe, Africa, and Peru and gives the water to America and Canada.It also makes it extremely hot all around the world which causes all sorts of problems such as heat waves, droughts, and loss of water. El Nino is also a danger to all the wildlife in the ocean because of all the hot water floating around in there (which is El Nino itself). Even though there are downs to an El Nino, there are also ups, but I think that you’ll find that there are more downs than ups. For instance El Nino will help the California drought which is in a desperate need of water. El Nino can also stop floods but not without making more. In conclusion El Nino helps the environment but is mostly causes harm over it. People in the US are affected by El Nino in many ways. El Nino does not only affect the west coast but it can reach the east coast too. In New England El Nino means more rain and less snow which is bad for all the ski lodges which have to spend more money on fake snow losing money. People also don’t want to ski if they think it is too warm or rainy and not snowing. What these will do to the countries economics is going to spend more money on repairing the damage

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ done by this. California will likely see a lot of flooding which also costs a lot of money to repair. The best solution to that is flood insurance. The Californian government is trying to persuade the citizens of California to get this. Crops are being affected too so they have a bigger range of damage done to the economy. Crops in California are not going to grow well which means less money and food for farmers in california, less chances for truck drivers to transport crops, and less food for the market to sell so they are also losing money. El Nino has a wide range of possibilities and some are better than others for the US citizens to be affected by. Economic issues caused by El Nino will have negative impacts as well as some positive ones. El Ninos negative impact on the economy will cause many problems for people and what they can afford. The prices of sugar, coffee, and chocolate will go up because in Peru where those items are imported there will be huge floods. An average Midwestern retail store’s price will increase by 515 percent. El Nino will affect the agriculture and crops in India, China, Philippines, and Indonesia. El Ninos positive effect on the economy will help people who are dealing with floods and destruction of houses. The above average rainfall in Texas will help stop the drought which will help the cattle industry. Insurance rates will decrease because of the above average hurricanes. These negatives and positive affects will both take a big turn on the economy. If people are affected by El Nino there are solutions to fix what happened. Officials have put buoys in the ocean to help figure out when an El Nino is coming. Two countries have started using these buoys, the United States and Japan. The buoys are are part of the Tropical Ocean and Global Atmosphere program (TOGA). The buoys read the temperatures. In California officials are telling people to buy f lood insurance. They are still telling people to get flood insurance even if they live in low risk flood areas. If there is a flood people who got the flood insurance will not have to worry as much as if they had not got the insurance. Even though there are only two solutions here there are still other s olutions.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Theseus Aaron Weiner The legend of Theseus was that he was a hero of Athens, Greece. He was son of Poseidon. Theseus killed the monster, Minotaur. The Minotaur is an ancient creature that lived in the Labyrinth. An interesting fact about the Minotaur was that he was created by Poseidon causing Pasiphae to give birth to the minotaur. Pasiphae was a queen and she was daughter of the old sun god. Poseidon made this happen because, when he sent the snow horse across the sea, Pasiphae liked it and made a wooden sculpture. She liked it so much. He soon realized his mistake. Poseidon was excited when Theseus killed the Minotaur. The Labyrinth is a maze that goes on forever. Theseus got help from Ariadne who gave him a spool of thread and a sword. Ariadne is a daughter of King Minos. With the thread, he placed it at the door and then retraced it to help him find his way out. He could use the sword to kill the Minotaur. Theseus and his father made a deal that if he killed the Minotaur, he would change the sails on his ship to white. When he was on the island, he got a message from the god Dionysus to leave his girlfriend behind named Ariadne. Dionysus is the god of wine, and he was in love with Ariadne. Theseus was so sad that he had to leave his girlfriend, he forgot to change the sail flags to white. His father saw that the sail was Black, so he thought Theseus died. The way King Aegeus died, because he was upset that his son die, he jumped off a cliff. A few years later he became a king. Theseus was sad his father died, but Theseus was a great king of Athens. The moral lesson of Theseus is don't leave people behind. Also this explains why there is a sea named after Theseus’ dad, king Aegeus. Aegean Sea was named after Theseus dad after he died. Aaron means mountain of strength Hebrew. Aaron also the brother of Moses.

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Car Thieves Jonathan Mack Grandpa and I woke up the next morning and the driver of the punch buggy was nowhere to be found. We rolled down the window, hopped out and realized we were at a Cumberland Farms in the middle of nowhere. The woman driving the car had foolishly left her keys in the ignition, so someone could easily steal it. We were even more behind schedule. We saw a sign down the road and it said, “Virginia 50 miles.” We were really behind schedule. After an hour of waiting for the punch buggy driver to return, I decided that we should leave. But grandpa had other plans. He was very intrigued with this machine. He had been carefully spectating as the woman was driving us here. So he said, “Rex, I think I will be able to drive us to Virginia!” Grandpa made me fetch a rock about the size of a small football. He then told me to shut the car off so when I put the rock on the gas pedal it wouldn’t do anything. When we were all ready and geared up to start driving, I turned on the car and it zoomed into the Cumberland Farms. We still hadn’t quite learned the steering. We then put the car in reverse and Grandpa and I hopped onto the steering wheel and started turning it. We did pretty well until we got back on the highway. We were trying to switch lanes and then the worst case scenario happened. We turned too much, to the point where we were upside down on the steering wheel. Fortunately, only for about two seconds. When we got right side up again we saw that we ran into only three signs luckily. Then, the worst case scenario happened again. In our rear view mirror we could see a police cruiser pulling up to the scene. Grandpa and I ditched the car and watched it crash and blow up into a truck delivering gas. Luckily, no one was hurt. The truck driver was unharmed. It was really intense. We saw another sign that said, “Virginia half a mile”. We were relieved. When we reached Virginia we decided to fly up to a place folks called the “White House.” Grandpa Blue made another one of his famous cuckoo clock looking nests right on the White House Lawn. It has been an awesome adventure so far. ANWR Oil Drilling Carter Bartel, Chase McDivitt, Drew Pepi, William Hutzler, Bryn Kerslake Oil drilling in Alaska is drilling for oil in the Alaskan and Arctic environments. Oil drilling in The Arctic environment can have good outcomes, mixed outcomes, and bad outcomes. Some good results are: more oil and gasoline for the people that need it. Another good result is that with the extra oil, we could produce energy to help create better envirofriendly fuels and energy. A mixed result is when there are good results And bad results. Or, there could be no results at all. One example of a mixed result is that when we drill for oil, we get gasoline, (a good result), but we also pollute the ocean and the land, (a bad result). An example of a bad result is when we drill, but do not get any oil. That wastes time and money, and we do not get anything out of it. (BK) Oil drilling in Alaska really affects the biotic factors and abiotic factors directly because they are in the ecosystem being affected. Firstly, it affects the animals a ton. It affects all the birds because when they are flying their migration route could be all messed up by the sound and smoke of the drilling area. Another way it could affect animals is if there is an oil spill and it spills on to the iceberg nearby that a polar was resting on it hurt the polar bear by destroying its living space. A third reason that oil drilling could hurt animals is the area they need to take down to set up their oil drilling could destroy an animal such as a wolf’s habitat. Oil drilling could unbalance the ecosystem also be disrupting the abiotic factors and messing them up. Oil spills that go into 21

Albemarle Grade 5 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ the water pollute it making it an unsafe place to live. All the drilling and smoke coming up into the air could pollute it making it a very unsafe place to fly in or breath. Everything that happens is all because some people just don’t care about the environment or about messing up the ecosystem and if people cared more, the ecosystem would be more balanced and be a better place to live. (CB) Oil drilling in Alaska both positively and negatively impacts the stakeholders. Some of the positive impacts are that It creates thousands of jobs for the people of Alaska. It also creates gas for cars all over the world. Some of the negative impacts of oil drilling in Alaska are that it majorly affects the water and animals by contamination from oil spills so that the Alaskans can't drink the water and do not get food and it also kills the animals. It will also affect people's jobs for example when the oil drilling stops the truck drivers will not have their jobs because they will not have any oil to transport. Big oil drilling companies do not want this to happen because if the oil drilling stops it will lose them a lot of money. Scientists and groups like the green groups are warning Shell not to continue the drilling because it could lead to ecological disasters in the Arctic. (CM) The stakeholders for oil drilling in Alaska can be affected if the state bans oil drilling. This will affect them because if oil drilling is shut down they will lose a huge amount of money because 90 percent of the state’s revenue comes from oil drilling. If oil drilling is shut down and they stop making money, the big companies will have to fire a lot of people. They will also be affected if there is such a big oil spill that the government had to shut down the company. Also if all the workers start to ask for a raise then they will start to fire people, move people down or shut down the company. Some workers may quit if the company can not pay them well because they are not making money. If there are no jobs it will cause people to move out of the state. Banning or allowing oil drilling could have a big negative affect on people’s lives. (WH) There are many short and long term solutions to oil drilling in Alaska. A good short term solution is if Alaska oil drilling stops. Another short term solution is for the Shell company to do a little drilling at a time and wait until the field recovers then they can start drilling again. Another short terms solution is if oil company workers quit their jobs and then there will be no more workers to help with oil drilling. Some long terms solutions are, if the government fights oil companies and tells them to stop oil drilling in Alaska. A second long term solution is if they drill in a different place far away from Alaska. Another long term solution is if the oil companies talk with the government and solve the problems surrounding the oil drilling. These solutions will help Alaska process of oil drilling to be better. (DP)

Albemarle Two Truths and a Lie 2016 _________________________________________________________________________

Two Truths and a Lie Two Truths and A Lie Newspaper is a club in the middle school. Mr. Minehart and club members investigate stories about Fessy, but when they write their stories there is a twist. Two of the stories are always true, but one story is a lie. Can you guess which stories are true and which is the lie in the newspaper below? (OBVIOUSLY this would have to be followed by the newspaper) Fall club PJ O'Rourke (6th) Aaron Weiner (5th) Michael Glazer (5th) Ben Gliklich (5th) Owen Erdman (6th) Carter Bartel (5th) Nate Krawshuk (6th)

Winter club Ryan McGauley (5th) Spencer Ankner (6th) Freddy Hoffman (5th) Tommy Hunnewell (5th) Lachlan Sutton (5th) Sid Pradhan (5th)

Albemarle Two Truths and a Lie 2016 _________________________________________________________________________

IN THE 1940s at Fessenden, students were never assigned to be a waiter at lunch or dinner because they were not the waiters. That´s right! Fessenden used to hire waiters for the dining hall. The boys would just sit and wait for their food like at a restaurant.

Eventually, they made the the students do the chores, but studentwaiters still had to wear special white waiter jackets! By the early 1950s, the teachers at school clearly noticed that it was silly to make them wear special coats, so they stopped making the students wear them.

IN THE 1920s, Fessenden used to have a rugby team. The old goal post that was recently taken down by the flag football field is where they played and practiced. At the time, Fessenden didn’t have football, so the boys interested in tackling played rugby.

As football became more popular in the United States and rugby came less popular, the school switched to tackle football by the late 1920s. After tackle football became more popular, rugby never became a school sport at fessy again.

IN THE 1950s, there were many services on campus such as a barber shop. The barber came twice a week, and a haircut list was posted on a bulletin board. If the boys forgot about their haircut the barber’s assistant would have to find them in the school.

Also, at the school they had a threestory hospital located in where the infirmary is now. This was before the Newton Wellesley Hospital was created. The nurses and staff for the hospital lived on the third floor, which is above where the nurse's office is now.

Albemarle Two Truths and a Lie 2016 _________________________________________________________________________

The Fessy Chronicle Fessy’s Two Truths and One Lie Newspaper ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Thursday, February 18th, 2016 One Dollar West Newton, MA Fessy History is a Mystery THE FESSENDEN RUNNING BOY is a statue that sits outside of the lunch room on the slope near Memorial Hall. This Fessenden School symbol was created because a student by the name of John Calvin always spent his time running to class.

He starred as a cross country legend at Fessy and went on to finish 14th in the Boston Marathon two years after graduating from Yale. He also served in World War l and tragically died serving his country. Because of his great accomplishments, Fessenden decided to make a statue of him doing the thing he loved: running.

FESSENDEN has not always been an all boys school. Nicole Senecal actually graduated from Fessy. Her sister Louise went to Fessy too, but she did not graduate because she decided to go to another school. Nicole played sports at Fessy including Varsity Cross Country, Skiing, and Track.

Their father, Dan Senecal, was a teacher and assistant Headmaster at the time. They lived at Fessenden, vastly outnumbered by boys. So, even though she was a girl, Nicole Senecal was able to attend, and graduate from Fessenden.

IN THE EARLY 1950s, Eleanor Roosevelt visited the Fessenden school. At the time, one of her grandsons, Franklin D Roosevelt III attended Fessenden. She joined the boys for lunch and then said few words. Most of the older students knew how important she was since it had only been five years since her husband was president.

But some of the younger students did not realize who she was. She said, “It was a funny little reception because some of the smaller ones had no idea why they should shake hands with me, and marched by with eyes straight ahead thinking what they were going to do in the two hours of freedom before them.”

Photo by John Ryan

Art by Charlie Lavalle

Art by Max Hall

Photo by Alex Soderling 27

Photo by Daniel Bittner

Art by Anthony Pepi

Art by Ben MacDonald

Photo by Niki Page 28

Art by Andrew Johnson-Ketter

Photo by Blake Ankner

Art by Rhodes Martinez

Art by Spencer Vermeule 29

Photo by Avery Wirth

Art by Peyton Rose

Art by William Ji

Photo by Joseph Fandrey 30

Photo by Alex Soderling

Photo by Ben MacDonald

Art by Peyton Rose

Photo by Charlie Lavallee 31

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Football Charlie Irwin A crisp cool breeze hit my face as I walked towards my nervous teammates. The noisy quarterback barked the signals in the huddle. Moist grass sunk as I ran toward the line of scrimmage. The piercing quarterback screeched the signals on the line. The rough ball was snapped to the left of me. Smooth dirt moved spead out of my way below me. A grunting defender ran by me during the play. The silent ball rushed above my fingertips and into my hands. My soft hands caught the spinning pigskin. I felt my thumping heart skip a beat and my teammates rushed to me into the endzone. The Day the Xenotribes Showed Up Matthew Smalley When the Xenotribes showed up, I was on the skiing slopes. I was envisioning the nice warm cup of hotchocolate when I had finished and entered the lodge. But suddenly I saw something through my thick ski visor. It was an alien riding a snowboard supervising a smaller alien which must have been its child. I thought I was dreaming and rubbed my eyes and when I opened them nothing was there. I told myself I was just hallucinating. But then I heard something that sounded like an avalanche so I turned my head. When I turned around there was a spectacular sight with a herd of aliens that were just visible in the distance. I screamed but then I realized that I could have some fun with this. So as I was skiing down the mountain I called up my friend Bob who was a skiing spectator. He was ready to go right after I hung up. Since the aliens didn’t know we were racing I caught up to them and pulled the whole tribe into one of the cabins on the side of the mountain. We took a five minute break to get warmed up. Bob called out, “On your marks, get set, Go!” We were off and half way down in a minute. The aliens had rocket boosters which propelled them forward. At the end of the race the alien tribe had won. But after revising a video of the whole race Bob saw the rocket boosters and disqualified the aliens. Even after they cheated I still had respect for them. To this day I call them the Xenotribes because the mountain I had skied was called the ‘Xeno Trail’. The Hunter Luis Lee The heavy footsteps came towards me, running down the passage in the woods. Dead branches lay still as the bright moonlight shown across the forest floor. I could hear the barking shouts of the hunter. I knew he was right by the tree as the hot, steamy breathing went above my head. Sounds of the crimson rustling leaves didn’t frighten me until he was right next to me. The brisk wind blew through the layer of thin fabric. During this moment I felt a chill up my spine. Hairy creatures crawled over my leg. As I realized in horror I stood up and started running. The surprised hunter fell from awe. He screamed “Manhunt!” As I ran with all my strength between the trees and I could almost feel the Hunter far away. When I looked back I saw that the perilous hunter was tucked away in the darkness.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ My Knucklehead Story Jack Jervis It all began when my dad, tired from work, turned on the golf channel. I was four and my brother, Henry, was six. It was 2008 and Tiger Woods was the biggest name in golf, and of course, the cameras were all on him. I walked into the living room, where my dad was watching the Masters, when Tiger made a bad shot. He was furious and threw his club far up the fairway, in the woods, next to his ball. I had never watched golf before, so Tiger’s tantrum was my first impression of the game. I was intrigued by this sport, with its club throwing, and asked my dad about it. The television zoomed up to the ball which was next to the club and my dad said, “The goal is to get that thing into the hole, which is located on a large piece of grass called the green.” I only saw the club so when he said “thing”, I thought he meant you needed to get the club into the hole. The TV zoomed in on the hole just when the other superstar, Phil Mickelson, was walking away from the hole, his caddie carrying his clubs. I thought the goal of the game was to throw the club into the hole, which sounded fun. So when I asked my dad if I could play, he replied, “When?” I couldn’t resist but to answer “Now!” and off we went. My dad took me and my brother Henry to the golf course that we are members of, The Vineyard Golf Club in Martha’s Vineyard. He brought us to the driving range and started swinging his club as a warm up. I assumed this was a way to get your arm warmed up for golf. My dad, after swinging his club around said, “Jack, why don’t you try?” I did the exact thing that Tiger Woods did, I threw the club onto the range and it landed far far away from the hole with a loud THUMP. “Jack! Why did you do that!” my dad yelled at me, “You have to sit out until I tell you that you can come back in and play.” I was very confused. I thought that maybe he was mad at me because I had just hit a bad shot, which I thought was okay. Besides, there were no other people on the range to learn from except my dad and my brother, who were the last people I wanted to learn from after my dad yelled at me. It took a while for my dad to forgive me but when he did, I got right back into the swing of things. I took my putter in my hand, and got ready to deliver a mighty throw. I had a big backswing, and let it soar, it flew long and high until I heard a BOINK, and a scream from my brother. I had let the club go too late, and to the side, and had hit Henry! That night I was sent to my room until Henry got out of the hospital which was two to three hours. When he got home, I tried to hide, and when he found me, I was expecting a lecture, but instead, he said “I never liked Tiger Woods either.” I told him I was sorry that I hit Henry, but wasn’t sure what I was doing wrong. “I threw my club just like Tiger Woods,” I said to my dad when he asked me what I did. My dad finally realized what had happened. He explained the game of golf to me in more detail and I started to laugh. I now understood what I had done wrong. Later that summer, when my dad actually taught me how to play golf, he had me watch Tiger Woods on television. This time, I watched the entire game.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Carrot Top Ted Richards Carrot Top leaned on a streetlight. He slid down the street light, slipping on the rain that poured down upon the streetlight. He got up. He wondered, where are they, what are they doing? He quickly tucked his majestic hair into his jacket and approached the black Bugatti that was cruising down the street. Carrot Top would go on any mission, whatever it was, unless his eyebrows and or hair were at risk of being damaged. The car drove extremely slowly up to him and rolled down the window. Carrot Top was very nervous. He had been told that this mission would be exceptionally dangerous. The car door opened. A figure he could barely recognize popped out of the Bugatti. He was dressed in black, but, there was a huge white clock on his chest. He knew that only the legendary Flavor Flav would wear bling like that. Carrot Top and Flavor top walked into their Boss’s home. They were instructed their mission in his home. “Steal a statue!” “A statue? Not worth my time any day!” “Flavor Flav, be quiet, this isn’t just any ordinary statute.” “This is a statue that is worth about half a million, and, before you ask, I’m not telling you why it is worth that much.” NOW GO GET IT!” Flavor Flav and Carrot got into the car and drove quickly to get to Fessenden. They ran up to the statue. “Hey! What are you guys doing here!” Carrot Top and Flavor Flav turned around to see a teacher. “Um...we are doing some maintenance on the statue,” Carrot Top said. The situation was particularly uncomfortable. Carrot Top and Flavor Flav frantically worked the statue loose and out of the ground. They got the statue out in a short time and went into the car. They got in the car and drove to the boss’s home, where they were arrested by the police. “Why are you doing this?” inquired Carrot Top. “Because we want to,” the cops promptly replied. But then, like a flash, Carrot Top whipped out his crazy hair and blinded the police officer, causing him to stop restraining him, and Carrot Top ran into the night never to be seen again, however, some people claim to see him running in Ohio a day later and Flavor Flav is rumored to be somewhere in jail, but nobody really cares. FALLEN Spencer Vermeule black is the light, so cold bodies of angels who will never sing hates traditions run so old the one and only, our mighty king our allegiance will stay true our minds twisted with regret we walk without purpose, our soul askew trying to pay off our limitless debt no one can find us in this state they snap and bite with no result for mercy, they make us wait with the dark, they do consult waiting until we take their bait we shamble towards the sun shackles binding us forever more branding our hearts with what we have done our old lives washed up upon the shore

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Long Walk to Water Essay Oliver Frantzis The book Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park is about a boy named Salva who lives in the time of the Sudanese civil war. Salva is in school when the war starts from the sound of gunshots, and because of the war, Salva is forced to flee from his village. Salva found a group of people who were from his village, but they didn’t want to bring him into the group because they thought he would slow the group down.After walk for days Salva finds his uncle in the group. After a while they got robbed by rebels who shot Salva’s uncle. Salva and the group get to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. When the country runs out of money they are forced ou. He barely survives when he jumps into a river full of crocodiles. Then he takes another journey to a refugee camp in Kenya. Will he make it to the camp or die on the way? The movie, God Grew Tired of Us, is about the Lost Boys of sudan when they came to America. The lost boys of Sudan are a group of boys who had flee their village because of the sudanese civil car. One eye opening thing is that the lost boys of Sudan didn’t know how to use some of the most simple things when they got to America. For instance they didn’t know how to use the lights, flush the toilet, and what foods to eat and things not to eat like condiments. To most of us those things are some of the most simple things but for them it is hard for them. Another eye opening thing is that they thought their jobs where good. For example they thought that working at a gasket factory, or working at a MCDonald's was a good job. I am really lucky that don’t have to do any of those jobs because those are really bad jobs. Those are a few of many eye opening things about the movie God Grew Tired of Us. In the movie God Grew Tired of Us, and the book Long Walk to Water there are many things that make you feel thankful for. One thing is the projection. in the book Long Walk to Water the war started when Salva was in school and he didn't have anywhere to go because there wasn’t protection. Also in the movie God Grew Tired of us the lost boys didn’t have the protection or any where to go. The book and the movie made me also realise that it is a good thing to know where my food comes from.in Long Walk to Water they didnt have the luxury to know where there food is coming from. However it is different from life for me because I don’t have to wonder where my food is coming from. Those are some of the ways that the book Long Walk to Water and the movie God Grew Tired of Us Made me realize things that we should be thankful for. Journey to the Island Peter Visco As the boat glided across the ocean and to the dock, the motor roared. The big palm trees were shaking, in between the buildings on the beach. At the water's edge, the birds were singing. As the boat motored away the waves crashed, against the beach. A bird was flying in the sky, while, stalking a lizard. In the restaurant, the smell of the hot grill cooking chicken lofted through the air. As the gray donkeys walked around, the smell was carried across the island. The warm cozy house was waiting for me to come and take a nap.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Taste of Salt Essay Thomas Romney A Taste of Salt, a book by Frances Temple, is about a boy named Djo in Haiti. At the time, there is a terrorist group called the Tonton Macoutes. The story starts in a hospital, in Haiti, where Djo is living. A girl named Jeremy is sent by a man named Titid, who is a church leader in Haiti that is hated by the Macoutes, to capture Djo's story. First, Djo talks about his family and how poor he was. Then, he talks about how Titid came to his house and offered to become his caretaker. His family accepts because they are too poor and have no choice and Djo is taken in by Titid. He stays with other boys and is given meals and work. Eventually, Titid starts taking in more and more boys. With all of the new boys, Djo feels neglected so he runs away. He is about to return but is kidnapped and taken to the Dominican Republic to cut cane as an indentured slave. He works for a few years until he meets a friend named Roro. They devise a plan to escape the Dominican Republic. Will they escape alive? God Grew Tired of us is a documentary about The Lost Boys of Sudan. There is a civil war in Sudan and The Lost Boys are a group of thousands of boys that walked from Sudan to Ethiopia and eventually to a refugee camp in Kenya, called Kakuma in order to get away from the violence. America agrees to take some of these refugees to America for a better life. The documentary focuses on three boys, Daniel, Panther and Jon, that were taken to America. At first, it was hard for them to live in America because they knew nothing about the culture. For example, they do not know how to use a light switch or what to do with butter. At first they are happy to be given such an opportunity, but after a year they start to miss Africa and be less happy. They all start to try to help their families and friends in Africa. Eventually, all of them, except for Daniel, are reunited with their families and are happy in America. Something that was eyeopening to me was how much they wanted to help their friends and family in Africa. Watching this documentary, I have learned about the hardships of these Lost Boys of Sudan. Reading and watching these has made me appreciate many things. For instance, in both Sudan and Haiti, they do not have access to clean water. However, in America, everyone has access to clean water, while in Sudan, only half of the people have clean water and in Haiti, even fewer people have clean water. Without clean water, you can get dehydrated or, if you drink dirty water, you can get parasites. Another thing that I appreciate is education. We have some of the greatest education systems in the world and most people here are literate. In Sudan, only 70% are literate and in Haiti, only 60% are literate. Without a good education, it is hard to get a good job to support yourself and a family. Another thing that I appreciate is my family. The main characters in both of these books had to leave their families. I am very grateful for my family and it would be hard to leave them because of how much I love them. Learning about all of these situations has reminded me how fortunate I am.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Crab Andrew JohnstonKetterer I walk down to the soft fine sand, and my feet slowly sink in. I glide into the water and touch the sunken wooden boat. The bumpy wood sticks out of the glimmering water. A small minnow scatters across the wide lagoon. The many blades of grass lie against each other in a giant mass. The smooth sand covers the lagoons floor. A crab scrambles along the lagoons bottom and buries himself under the wet sand. A bright scaley Scup swims slowly around a rough rock, and its blue and silver scales shine in the hot beaming sun. It slides into a gap in the green slimy seaweed and disappears. Breadwinner Essay Shy Odom The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis is about a young girl named Parvana. She makes huge sacrifices for her family. In Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, all women are not allowed to have jobs or stay outside for a long period of time. The reason is because the Taliban took over parts of the country. The Taliban is a religious extremist group that believes in having their own state. When Parvana’s dad gets kidnapped and arrested her family goes into a huge crisis. Their family doesn’t make any money because there is no male to work. As a result, Parvana needs to disguise herself as a boy to earn money for the family. It was hard for them because they were surviving, but they were just getting enough for food to eat. Will the family be able to pull off the scheme? Will her father ever come back home? The documentary God Grew Tired is about three boys named John, Daniel, and Panther who had to run away from home and also left their family because of the Civil War in Sudan. Consequently, they had to walk from Sudan with 20,000 boys in order to be in safety. The camp that they ended up in was a refugee camp in Kakuma. The camp was called Kakuma Refugee Camp, which is in Kenya. After a long time organizations helped many boys including Jon, Daniel, and Panther to come to America. When they came to America, they were really new to the conveniences of modern life. They didn’t even know what a shower looked like! The government supplied the boys with three months of living in America for free. Their plan was that the boys would learn about America and get jobs for life. After one year all the boys are juggling jobs trying to gather money so they can buy food from the grocery store and pay rent for their apartment. Most of the boys got enough money so they can go back to Africa to see their family or get married. Thus, although they have been through tough times they worked hard and some succeeded in finding family and going to school. The movie and the book makes me appreciate my family more. Not only being able to have education, but having food to eat, and having a bed to sleep on. Unfortunately, in Kakuma they did not have all these things. They had very little education. They never took showers or had a way to be clean (beside the rivers). They had a very little amount of food and they were really skinny. Some of the children were not able to see their parents because they ran away from them in the Sudan war. Some people are not grateful enough for what they have and it’s unfair for the people who were displaced by the civil war. As a result, I have become more grateful for my family and what I have.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Pool Matthew Smalley The quiet and peaceful sun melted into my skin like butter melting into a piece of bread. A sneaky gecko skids through the grass trying to get to a rock out of the corner of my eye. The cool refreshing water lures me towards the pool, but I am not persuaded. Cautious palm trees sway over my sun warmed head. My book rests on my lap. Beneath my chair a towel bathes in the sun as happy as can be. Calming shade covers me until there is no sun to shade me from. As I walked out of the comforting area near my house, a child slides in and dunks his head. Long Walk to Water and God Grew Tired of Us Essay Nate Krawshuk A Long Walk to Water is a book written by Linda Sue Park about an inspiring journey by the main character named Salva Dut, a boy who lived in Sudan during the Sudanese Civil War. The civil war was a war that was fought by North and South Sudan over government beliefs. The book started with Salva at school. He was in the middle of a class when Salva heard shots at his school. Salva ran as hard as he could away from the school until he finally stopped for the night with people that he didn’t know. He didn’t know where his family was, and he really had no other option than to stick with the group he slept with. Ultimately, Salva had to walk from country to country miserably and had to stop at refugee camps for years in the process. When Salva was in Ethiopia his name was on a board that let Salva have the chance to go to the United States to get a better life. How do you think Salva’s life will be in the United States? Our class watched a documentary called God Grew Tired of Us and it was very inspiring. The documentary is related to A Long Walk To Water, and it was really interesting to relate the movie to the book. The movie highlighted three of the Lost Boys, named Panther, Daniel, and Jon. When they arrived, the Lost Boys didn’t understand anything about the culture in the United States. For instance, simple things like opening a refrigerator and turning on a lamp were challenges for them. The movie and the book made me think about how fortunate I am compared to the Lost Boys. The documentary and my book made me appreciate more things in my own life. First, I appreciate having a new pair of clothes to wear everyday. In contrast, the boys who were walking from Kenya had to wear clothes that were never washed. I would feel disgusting if I wasn’t able to wash my clothes. Second, I am lucky to have a bed to sleep on. The boys had to sleep on the ground or if they were lucky they would sleep on a blanket. I would have a hard time sleeping if I had to sleep on the ground. These are some things that I have learned to become more thankful for.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Shark Bait Peyton Rose A menacing lemon shark took the bait, and clear blue water shimmered all around the boat. The braided line screamed out of the reel. While the fish swam away towards the open water, my long rod thrummed with the fish’s power. Calm sea water lapped gently against the side of our boat as the fish splashed far away. Gnarly mangroves rose in the distance. The boat rocked up and down with slight swells of the Gulf. A storm swirled over my head as we gave a slow chase. Water beside me suddenly became still as a storm threatened to rage in the Gulf. Besides the ugly mangroves in the distance, a single ship was the only sight in the open sea. The tired shark beached itself on the shallow channel side. When Captain Dave grabbed the leader, the spent shark went crazy by one side of the boat while the hook dug deeper into it’s wide mouth. Long Walk to Water and God Grew Tired of Us Essay Alex Soderling The book a L ong Walk to Water by Linda Sue Parker is about a character named Salva. Salva is a boy who lives in Sudan. In the time of this book there was a civil war. The story starts when Slava's village was being shoot at as a result he had to evacuate. This was the start of Salvas incredible journey. He has to walk to safety. He find himself in the middle of the desert with a bunch of runaway people. One day in the desert he finds his uncle who has been in the military for the past two years. A couple days later his uncle got shot. Salva is very sad but still determined. He makes it to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. After a couple years in that refugee camp soldiers come and forces them out of there country. They force the people to a the Gilo river therefore he has to go in. The Gilo river which however is crocodile infested is extremely dangerous to swim in. Will he survive or be swallowed. In the documentary God Grew Tired of Us three boys John, Daniel, and Panther go on dangerous walk just like Salva. People in Sudan were suffering most were dying right in front of there eyes. But some people including John, Daniel, and Panther similarly to Salva made it to a refugee camp in Kakuma it wasn’t easy, most of them saw their family members get shot right in front of there eyes. The USA decided they were going to elect some boys to go to America and start a new life there in addition they would have to find jobs to support them. In addition to that they have to adjust to the new life style. Those boys were some of the boys that got elected to go to America. They got to America and got jobs that paid minimum wage but they were extremely happy. Some of them got in touch with their families from Sudan and are doing everything they can to help them. After the war Jon and Panther flew back to Sudan to meet up with their families. Those are the main parts of the documentary God Grew Tired of Us. The movie and book made me appreciate the things in my life a lot more. After seeing this movie I appreciate my education a lot more. For example we might be like “why do we have to go to school or I don’t like it”. But those people from Sudan don’t have an education and would love to have one. So next time you say why do we have to go to school you should think about that. The second thing I appreciate more is food. Before I kind of took food for granted but after watching the movie and reading the book it opened my eyes and I’ve come to appreciate food a lot more. People who were running from their homes were dieing from starvation. They would be so happy to just get a bite to eat. We shouldn’t say I'm starving because those people from Sudan were actually starving. Those are things I appreciate more after watching the movie and reading the book.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Escape John Ryan The small black helicopter quite stealthily flew over Fessenden, very quickly dropping in two secret agents. Carrot top, (005) silently slid down the rope, followed by Flavor Flave, (006). They were both exceptionally smart, but stealing the running boy statue could still prove to be a problem for them. They ended up in a courtyard, just outside the main building. 006 drew his grappling hook gun, aimed it at the stone structure below the extremely valuable statue, and he fired. His aim was terrible, and he missed the statue, hitting a nearby drinking fountain. The drinking fountain proceeded to explode, causing quite a commotion. 006 ran inside, to stop the water from spraying the surrounding classrooms. The grappling hook gun had also hit a wire, causing a small fire. 005 punched a hole through the glass surrounding the fire extinguisher. He grabbed it out and started spraying it towards the fire. The fire was quickly put out, but the spraying water continued. After trying to stop the water, for one hour, 005 and 006 gave up. They flew away in their helicopter, hoping that they would be able to try again tomorrow. That all happened yesterday, and for all I know they were never seen again.

2pac and Avery Avery Wirth It was a great sunny day at the Fessenden School in Newton, Massachusetts. The serenity, however, was broken by the email sent to the students of the middle school by Mrs. Cadman. It said that there would be an impromptu meeting in the PAC. All the students had gathered in the PAC wondering why there was a meeting. The subdued students sat in their seats and waited for the meeting to start. A beacon of excitement shown in the teachers faces while they waited for the amazing thing to happen. Suddenly, the impish 2pac and delusional Stargirl jumped onto the stage and started singing Nothing to Lose! Through the students bewilderment, they started singing and dancing to the amazing hip hop. Even 2pac felt a kinship with all the students because they all knew the lyrics. But Mrs. Cadman homed in on the students and defiantly went to stop the music. She tried to suppress the situation by telling them to give her their phones and to go back to class and that you can't go to sports yet. All the students defied her and they all got autographs from 2pac. Later that day, when 2pac and Avery were conferring about how Biggie is trash, Mrs. Kellogg gloated about how she let 2pac in and how she set it all up. But in the end, Mrs. Cadman returned to her office and everybody lived happily ever after.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Woods Charles Wang As I entered the woods, the cut green grass of the field behind me swayed as the wind blew across the large park. A small bird soared overhead and high into the clouds. Further in the woods, dead leaves floated to the ground and got crunched under my foot through the forest. Warm air blew between the tall trees, past the park, and into the streets. A small sweat bead ran down my face and fell onto the ground. Large, lumpy raindrops fell downward on the parking lot and into the rough dirt. As I exited the woods and into a clearing, a sandy tennis court came into my eyesight, while the dark and gloomy forest loomed besides the soccer field. Elastic Essay Benjamin Katz Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory explains that the brain has eight core intelligences. The eight intelligences are naturalist, linguistics, mathematics, intrapersonal, interpersonal, musical, bodilykinesthetic, and spatial. All of the intelligences are very selfexplanatory. I have many strengths and weaknesses in my brain related to Howard Gardner’s theory. One of my weaknesses is linguistics. Linguistic smarts are your writing capabilities. One of my areas of strength in my brain is my people smarts according to Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory and its test. This intelligence is about how well someone works with other people. An example of my people smarts is that I can tell how people feel. Another example of this is that I thoroughly enjoy conversation. Thus, these are my major strengths and weaknesses, but just because they are one of my strengths or one of my weaknesses doesn’t mean they can’t improve. We recently read a book called the Fantastic Elastic Brain which talked about how you stretch and grow your brain. The way the stretching and growing works is simple, if your brain needs more “storage” it stretches and/or grows itself. One way for me to stretch my brain and boost my people smarts is to try to get better at talking to an audience because, frankly, when I talk to an audience I sound pretty stupid. Another way I could boost my brain strength is I could learn a new language. A third way I could grow my brain strength is I could learn how to always speak in a manner that would never offend anyone. One way I can strengthen my challenge area is that I could write down events that have happened in my day everyday. Another way to strengthen my challenge area is to try to relax myself before I start to write. A third way that I could strengthen my challenge areas is I could just simply read more. I can improve both my strengths and my weaknesses greatly, and that is why it is okay for me to be improving on some subjects while mastering others at this point in time. There are many goals I have set for myself to accomplish by the end of the year. I want to walk out of this school at the start of summer 2016 an accomplished writer. I also want to be able to always be confident going into writing assignments. A third thing that I want to do is to improve my ability to put my thoughts on paper. A final thing that I want is for my writing to simply look great and what I mean by this is I just want my writing to look professional. If I am able to improve my writing vastly during the year I will be able to happily walk away from this school year.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Essay of Breadwinner and God Grew Tired of Us Daniel Jiang The Breadwinner is a book by Deborah Ellis about a girl named Parvana who lives in Afghanistan. Parvana is suffering from the rule of the Taliban, which is a group of strict extremists. The Taliban did not want women to learn, or go outside without a man. Furthermore, the Taliban forced the women to wear a burqa (a dress that covers the entire body), and forbid them to work. In the beginning of the book, Parvana and her father sit on a blanket, selling things and reading letters because most people in Afghanistan can’t read. Then, that night, at Parvana’s house, her father was telling a story over dinner on a mat in the corner of the apartment with her family, when suddenly a group of Talibs broke in and took her father away for studying in Britain and learning. They did this, because they did not want people to learn and overthrow the Taliban, and the Taliban hated foreign ideas. Since Parvana’s father is gone, none of the family is allowed/fit to go to the market to work, and buy food. Because her father is gone, she had to disguise herself as a boy to sell, and buy things to support her family God Grew Tired of Us is a documentary about The Lost Boys, and girls i n Sudan. It shows the civil war in Sudan. Millions of children, and adults were killed, and separated from their families. The movie focused on three main Lost Boys, and their names were Daniel, Panther, and John. When they were children, they were separated from their families, and saw people killed right in front of their eyes. The three boys lived in the kakuma refugee camps, by themselves as children, with others just like them.. After a couple years of living in Kakuma refugee camp, a select group is given visas and plane tickets by the US government to come to America to live a better life. When they got on the plane, they had no idea what the lights were, and airplane food seemed strange to them, because they were used to their food. While in America, The Lost Boys had things to adapt to many things, electricity, escalators, new food, and christmas. Because they had to adapt to lot’s of new things, life was hard, and complicated for them, and people not being as friendly in their country. Because of racism too, people think they were gang members, and a store manager filed a complaint to police about them traveling in groups, so they could only travel by themselves.They start to be more separated, and they have to choose their own path. Because the three are still young adults, they still have a big future ahead of them, what will they do? By reading and watching The Breadwinner, and God Grew Tired of Us, has made me appreciate a lot more of my life. One thing that I appreciate from God Grew Tired of Us, is that I never witnessed a war breaking out and feeling safe in my home. Also I am grateful for my family, and not watching them die, or being separated from them. But from The Breadwinner, I also appreciate having good food, and eating something different every day. Not only having dinner on the table, but also not being isolated at home, and that I can walk around freely, and enjoy running around with my friends and going on vacation. So I actually had a lot more things to appreciate that I didn’t know of. I appreciate my family, my home, and feeling safe, Eating enough food every day, having lots of people to talk to, and being able to go on vacation.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Elastic Essay Noah Kalvelage Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory is an idea that there are eight different types of intelligences, not just the things you learn about in your classes at school. The multiple intelligences include body smart, people smart, word smart, logic smart, nature smart, self smart, picture smart and music smart. In Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligence Theory I have many strengths and weaknesses. One of my strengths is being word smart. Word smart is the intelligence that includes reading, writing, vocabulary, spelling, and any other word related activities. I believe I am word smart because I enjoy reading writing, spelling and learning new words. Another reason I think I am word smart is because I usually get good grades in English class. I think my main area of challenge is being nature smart. Nature smart is watching and understanding what is going on in nature. The reasons I think I am not very nature smart is because nature can easily bore me. Another reason is because I don’t have enough patience to observe what’s happening outside without getting really bored. Thus, I find being word smart much easier to me than being nature smart. As said in the F antastic Elastic Brain book, always stretching and growing your brain’s strength and weaknesses is very important to continue being a good learner throughout your lifetime. I can grow and stretch my strength by always trying hard and giving my full attention in class. Another way I can stretch and grow my strength is by taking my time in all classwork or homework and making sure that I am doing the best that I possibly can. A way that I can stretch and strengthen my challenge area is by watching nature in my spare time. Another way is to work on my patience. Patience is very important in a lot of the intelligences, not just nature smart. So if I worked on my patience, not only would I be improving on being nature smart, I would be smarter in the seven other intelligences. If I can manage to do all of those things better by the end of the year, I will become a better and smarter learner. By the end of the year I hope that I will be a much smarter and keener learner and the goals I will set to get me there, will be a huge part of how well I end up doing throughout the year. Not only do I want to be smarter in one intelligence by the end of the year, I want to be strong in most of the eight intelligences. I hope to be almost equal in all eight of the multiple intelligences. There are some intelligences that I am very strong at, and others not. Although I want to continue to stretch my strengths, I want to focus on my weaknesses first. Another goal of mine is to improve and have fun with nature smart. I want to start stretching and growing on my weakest intelligences first, and nature smart is the weakest of them all. If I succeed in meeting all my goals, then hopefully I will be a smart, well rounded and keen learner. Big Bass At Sunapee John Ryan Fiery, orange sunlight shimmered on the cool, blue water. My rough, dirty feet dangled off the edge of the boat. Bright, translucent fishing line curved around the docking pole. The musical sound of chickadees surrounded the small wooden dock. A long, luxurious boat sat upon the tall, sturdy lift, which is under a gray cloth canopy. I sat on the soft, comfortable cushion on the back of the beautiful boat.The rough, bumpy grip of my rod cut into my hands as it started to bend. A dark, mysterious shape began to emerge from the murky deep. A giant, wet bass fought hard on the end of my line. The immense, tough battle ended with me dragging the lively, fish onto the boat.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Story of Carrot Top and Flavor Flav Owen Erdman It all started when when 2 very oddly dressed people suspiciously drove up to Bernon Hall. They got out of the car, and started to walk up to memorial hall. They had a savagely awesome car, but it didn’t cover them as they awkwardly walked towards the Fessy running boy statue. I stealthily followed Carrot Top and Flavor Flave up the road towards Memorial. When they got to the statue, they looked around suspiciously to see if anyone was watching them. It was pretty hard to steal the statue outside because it was really cold, and they didn’t have any gloves. I watched as they quizzically tried to take it out of the ground, and it was hilarious. It was so heavy they couldn't even lift it with both of them. It was even more funny when they recklessly started to run into it shoulder first. Soon, people from everywhere came over and watched as the two absentminded savages brutally threw themselves into the Fessy running boy. After they saw us, they tried to run away, but there was a wall of students in front of them. They turned around and ran my way, but saw the others and stopped in their tracks. Two teachers urgently came out of the building and called the police. Two cruisers came to Fessy and the two officers effortlessly threw them into the cruiser and drove away. Afterwards, everyone laughed and talked about it for the rest of the day. My Knucklehead Story Davin Pandian It all started when my brother and I wanted to play outside. My mom was doing some research online in the house and my dad was at work. My brother and I went outside to play tag right after it rained. As soon as we went out, we could see a colorful rainbow in the sky. We were playing for a very long time, until we became thirsty, so we went back inside for water. Afterward, we went back outside, because it was so nice we couldn’t resist. While we were playing, my brother tagged me on my back really hard, so I tripped. I fell on my arm and face, which left scratches and bruises. I was laughing one minute with my brother, then instantly I started to cry. I was screaming and crying v ery loud because it was painful. After my brother saw me crying, he helped me up and brought me inside the house. My mom was so freaked out, she said, “What happened?” My brother said, “He fell while we were playing tag!” My mom scolded, “ I warned you about the grass being wet.” So my mom brought me to the car, so we could go to the hospital. I slowly put my seatbelt on with my broken hand. This is why my brother thought my hand wasn’t broken. But we still went to go check on it. When we got there the doctor, they took an xray and he brought us the big news and said it was broken. I was devastated, because I couldn’t play sports for a couple of months. After that, I knew not to run and play t ag o n wet grass.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Crabs and Football at Crane Beach Charlie Lavallee As we got off the bus, I could feel the scorching sand embrace my foot. My friends and I ran with excitement for we were going to the beach. I could feel the weathered wood beneath my feet; I knew it had been there for years. Once we got to the beach we took off our shirts and hopped into the frigid water. I saw a little hermit crab scurrying along the sea floor and I picked him up. I thought there might be some more crabs nearby. I found some goggles and started looking with Quinn. Eventually we found a huge crab. I picked him up, his shell was cold and clammy, and his claws were grabbing at me. I put him in a hat and brought him to show everyone. Most people were afraid of his sharp pincers. After a little bit, we chucked him back in the water and left. Later that day, I was playing football in the warm tide pool. There was some ooze on the seaweed and a lot of seagulls. After about ten minutes of some of the greatest game of catch a seagull took a man’s sandwich right out of hand. I chased that seagull down and hit him with the football. We all started laughing and then we headed back. Mrs Smalley had us all get on our towels and do some stretches and mindfulness. After tha, we all hustled to the buses to get the best seats. That day was the best day ever. It is so amazing to get a break from school to have so much fun. GOAL Ryan Noble The shiny soccer ball glistened in the light on the grassy center line. My nervous heartbeat expeditiously in my chest. After the whistle, the rolling ball stopped at my foot. As I moved towards the goal, the distant net came up surprisingly fast. The screaming of the crowd rang emphatically in my ears. GOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!!! As I ran to my teammates, the exciting sensation of scoring took me by surprise. The winning goal relieved the agonizing stress in my body. My Knucklehead Story Gage Tereau It all began when I stepped on the ice. We were warming up and my friend and I were scouting the other team. We saw a kid and he was really tall and skated straight up and he looked like a dufus. The puck dropped, and on and on the game went. Mid way through the 2nd period I was on the ice with the big dufus, the puck went into the boards and the dufus and I both went after it. I fell, but I managed to clear the puck away from the boards, so I tried to get up and get back into the play, but... The dufus crossed checked me in my back. I thought it was an accident so I tried to get up again, but he crossed checked me. I still thought nothing about it. He crossed check me another time, then I got a little ticked off. He did it one more time and then I had enough of it. I stood up and punched him in the face. He got mad and punched me back. Then I punched him, and this went on and on until the referee. I had the advantage over him because his swings would always hit me in the head but I had a helmet on so it didn't hurt me as much. My hits hit him under the chin, and the chin strap rubbed up against his skin and the cage hit him in the nose. We both got put in the p enalty box for 1 period. We ended up losing the game 52 but we beat that same team in the championship.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Lunchroom FlashMob William Ji Mrs. Kellogg was acting very weird yesterday. Today, Mrs. Kellogg is gone. The students of Fessenden were very curious about where Mrs. Kellogg had gone, so they tried asking Mrs. Cadman. Mrs. Cadman told the students that yesterday she picked up a phone call from Mrs. Kellogg’s office. In the phone, there was the sound of a girl. The girl was talking strangely about giving cookies and singing songs with a ukelele. Then, impromptu, there was the sound of someone trying to suppress the girl from speaking. After, the phone hung up. Later in the day when Mrs. Cadmin found Mrs. Kellogg, Mrs. Kellogg was behaving in an impish way. Mrs. Cadman saw Mrs. Kellogg speeding down the road 200 mph with her flaming hover board after help and work and never came back. The next day at lunch there was a girl who sneaked into the lunchroom, the boys tried to kick her out. The girl seemed serene as she quietly ate her food. Then, suddenly Bruno Mars and Mrs. Kellogg came into the lunchroom and started dancing to Kanye West’s new mixtape. The students watched in bewilderment as Bruno Mars whipped across the lunchroom. Female teachers were screaming and smitten with Bruno. The boys homed at the beacon of Bruno’s dabs. Mrs. Kellogg seemed subdued as if she was driving 10 hours to Minnesota without two bottles of Five Hour Energy Drink. Then, the new girl started swirling around with her floor length dress, singing “Old Macdonald had a farm” with a rat on her shoulder. She gave every single student an ugly cookie. The boys shouted at the girl in defiance because the cookies seemed awful. When the flash mob was over, Bruno was gloating about his dance moves to the new girl whose name is Stargirl and Stargirl seemed very unhappy. The students felt a sudden kinship to Stargirl’s feelings and stood up for her. Bruno Mars was startled and started running amok around the lunchroom. He tripped on some littered cookies across the room and hit the ground face first. He was later sent to the hospital with a bloody nose and had to get plastic surgery to look good again. Xenotribe Story Ryan Noble The day that the Xenotribe invaded my town was an interesting day. When they they came up to us, they said they were spectators from another planet, watching us from up in their spacecraft. It was a sunny day, and I wasn’t wearing a visor, so their image wasn’t very visible. They told us to leave at once, and whoever wasn’t out of sight in five minutes would have to be their respectful slaves. Everyone scattered except for me. The aliens went to revise and make sure no one was left. Unfortunately they spotted me, so I ran away. I wanted to go back but my sister was all alone in our house. Our parents went to hide in a different place, so I asked my neighbors to supervise her. I went back to town, and I saw the aliens prospecting for gold. They came up from the hole they dug, but I saw a spectacular sight, the “Xenotribe” weren't aliens, they were teenagers pranking the whole town. I called the police and they came and arrested the teens. I felt better, but there was still one thing that I didn’t understand. Last night I envisioned this happening. Either this was a crazy coincidence, or something strange was going on in the town of Winchester .

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ My Yard C onnor Provencher A sturdy pine tree swayed in the soft wind. The wonderful, fresh aroma of the flowers filled the air around me. Dead leaves floated gently down from the trees to the ground. Our neighbor’s house stands tall behind the bunch of trees. The rough bark of the Oak tree is rigid in the bright light. Beautiful sunlight sparkled above the branches on the massive trees. The woodpecker rattles its beak against the bark. I hear the distant song of the bird and it’s as sweet as a cherry blossom. Running Boy Story Jack Ryan It all started when Carrot Top was about to go on Jimmy Kimmel Live!! They were on the air when Jimmy asked Carrot a question “ Carrot, hows your career going?” Carrot respond “Jimmy, I actually got a real cool heist coming up with Flavor Flav soon.” Jimmy thought that when Carrot said “ heist” it meant running a race. After the show Carrot called Flavor Flav and said “ Are you ready to go to Fessenden and take the running boy?” Flavor Flav said, “Yes, we must do it quickly, though ok?” So Carrot top and Flavor flav briskly flew to Fessenden. They met at the stylishly Marriott Marquis in Newton. So they got their stuff out of the cab, and went inside the hotel. There inside the hotel the police were there and looking suspiciously looking at Carrot top and Flavor Flav. So Carrot top and Flavor flav took the stairs to go upstairs to her room. So the heist was planned for tomorrow evening at Fessenden. When they woke up, Flavor flav was already up and loading his tranquilizer gun. After he loaded his tranquilizer gun, they went to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. After breakfast they quickly went back to the hotel and waited until dark. When it was dark they took a cab into the center of town and walked to Fessenden. When they got there they carefully snuck up to the Running boy statue. But all of a sudden a security guard came out and said, “Hold it right there!” So they stood still until Flavor Flav pulled out the tranquilizer gun and brutally shot him. After they took care of the guard, they took out the drill and started. Five minutes into drilling they heard someone say, “ Hold it right there!” So they stood still, and police surrounded them. It was all still until someone came out of the police crowd and said, “Carrot man really.” Carrot recognized that voice and screamed “ JIMMY KIMMEL!! “ Jimmy Kimmel overheard Carrot talking to Flavor Flav about the heist and told the cops. Flavor Flav and Carrot Top went to federal prison after that. Boats Charlie Bacon A small sail boat shaded the docks above the water. As the soft, warm, sand covered my feet, A cool breeze passed my cheek as I sat on the sandy shore. The big boats swayed with the waves beside the docks and small plates clinked behind me in the restaurant. The blue ocean glistening between the rocks, As mighty ferry’s cruised out of the bay. The ferry’s left the docks into the mist over the water .

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Quiet Walk Michael Berman As I walk through the quiet common, the green grass glimmers against the sunlight. The identical trees wear the same old green leaves on their long branches. A bronze statue blocks the little sunlight that is left at the common, as I slowly move along. Weakened leaves blow in the soft breeze of evening. A full bush of loose leaves is shot away, and into the wind in bunches and then up and away. Velvety flowers are plucked by my hands and taken out of the common. Delicate twigs snap under my feet as I walk along the path and further away from sunlight. The cool air of night brings me into the hood of my sweatshirt. Carrot and Flavor Flav Kieran McCabe It all started when Carrot Top drank a little too much Caprisun. ‘Twas the night of the senior prom and neither Flavor Flav or Carrot Top had a date so, they decided to get into a little bit of trouble. “Man, this stinks” said Carrot Top “ I know, no girl will ever talk to us even if we paid them” replied Flavor Flav “ Wait, I have a great idea.” Carrot Top shouts “Man, whenever you have an idea something always goes wrong. I mean last time you had a good idea, Chicken Chucks burnt down!” Says Flavor Flav. “So what's this great idea?” Asks Flavor Flav “I was thinking we rob the 7/11 store with a couple of moldy bananas.” Replies Carrot Top “Are you crazy? If you want to do that, you can do it independently” Yells Flavor Flav "NO!, just special. Well at least that's what my mom told me.” Carrot Top Replies “Anyhow, why with moldy bananas” Asks Flavor Flav “Well, nobody wants to touch moldy bananas, right?” Says Carrot Top “ I have a better idea! So you know that Fessenden School?” Says Flavor Flav “Ya, Why?” Asks Carrot Top “Because we’re going to steal the running boy and then sell it for money!” Cries Flavor Flav “In the meantime let’s get some Slurpees.” Carrot Top Says As Carrot and Flavor Flav enter the Fessenden campus they saw that all the lights were out so, automatically they assumed that no one was there. So they went straight to the Running Boy, only there was one problem. How are they going to get the statue out of the ground. Now that they had this problem they had to break into the school and get some power tools. So Carrot Top went to get the power tools. While outside the school Flavor Flav unskillfully tried to knock the statue down. Soon they would would be rich Flavor Flav thought. When Carrot Top came back with the tools, they assured themselves that they would not mess up. But of course they did.They ran very fast to the scene of the crime. Since there power tools were so loud it attracted people, and when someone showed up they called the police, and then the two were incarcerated. But the two mastermind criminals quickly tried to escape the police.There plan was to quietly and softly leave. The two immensely and diligently tried to escape, but they ran right into a guard. So it turns out these two weren't mastermind criminals.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Day the Xenotribes Showed Up Vincent Shea When the Xenotribes showed up, I was... Walking down the street when out of nowhere a huge saucer comes down, a little ramp comes out of the saucer. It was a spectacular sight. A blinding light came making nothing visible and in a split second there was a shadow. It looked very humanoid and it came down riding a hoverboard. It was a PlayWheelz edition this type has a bluetooth speaker connected into it so it can play music. The first one came down playing Classic Man and said we are from a futuristic planet called Xenoborbu. We are playing our favorite song from your planet. The next one came down playing wrecking ball, she was about halfway down the ramp when suddenly it blasted I CAME IN LIKE A WRECKING BALL and she started freaking out and drove her hoverboard off the ramp. So I heard aaaahhhhh then the crowd went ooooooooooo which was a spectacle. My friend Theo came over to me and said “Well she was riding a hoverboard Chihuahua edition”. For me that doesn't sound good. The next one came down playing Hit the Quan and Hit the Quan on the hoverboard and the crowd started cheering. The next one didn't even last a second he was going down on his hoverboard and immediately face planted. The one that came down first then had to supervise the injured so people moved out of the way with respect. The next one came down on a Harley Davidson wearing a helmet with a visor he did a wheelie and suddenly even more spectators came. I started to envision what it would be like to be coming out of that saucer with the huge crowd. Such as, doing tricks or getting injured until screams took me out of it. I saw a bunch of guys wearing suits that on the back say Russia, yelling “Ve are from Russia ve vant to take you over”. it was all a prank. So that was the day that I learned Xenotribes are actually Russians. Fun Day at Cranes Beach Rhodes Martinez As we made our way up the dusty road in the van, we could smell the salty breeze of the ocean. When we climbed out of the white van we could smell the salt in the air and the seagulls just over the sand dunes. As we walked toward the beach I could feel the soft and fuzzy sand underneath my feet. When I walked over the sand dunes, I was bombarded by a gigantic blast of cool wind. As the wind subsided, we could see the blue ocean gleaming in the sunlight. We walked over the sand dune and we could start to hear the faint squawking of seagulls dive bombing for food and crumbs. We put down our various items such as towels, backpacks, and snack boxes, then we ran as fast as we could to the water's edge and let the cool water lap at our feet. For the rest of the day we played in the frothy brine, getting all wet and salty. Then finally at the end of the day they said that we had to come out of the water. We all walked to our little spaces and dried off with our towels. We put on our clothes and then we set off for the vans to go home.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Carrot Top and Flavor Flav Drew Stephans One day at the Fessenden School there were two suspicious people walking on campus named Carrot Top and Flavor Flav. They were walking very slowly around the dining hall acting like they were trying to steal something. The day went along very slow for the men. While they were walking around the dining hall a man named Mr.Minehart came out of the dining hall and said “I’ve never seen you guys around campus. Who are you?” Ummmmmmm, were .”runnnnnnnnnnn!” They ran so far they almost passed out. They caught their breath and ran quickly back to Fessy. The next day when they were walking really carefully around the campus they saw the guy from yesterday, Mr. Minehart. When they saw Mr.Minehart they immediately jumped behind a bush and hid. When the men popped out of the bush, Mr.Minehart was still there. Mr.Minehart saw the two men and thought those guys look very familiar. That’s right it's the guys from yesterday. He was thinking to himself what do people want to take from Fessy. He was thinking and thinking then finally he thought of something “the running boy.” That’s why they’re near the dining hall. The running boy is right next to the dining hall. Mr. Minehart told other teachers but they just ignored him. Mr. Minehart knew he had to do something. Before sleeping, Mr. Minehart put alarm lasers all around the running boy. So if they try to steal it, an alarm will sound and scare them away. The next day Carrot Top and Flavor Flav try to steal the running boy. No one is around other than Mr.Minehart. The thieves approach the running boy and when they touch it, the alarm goes off. Mr. Minehart runs out and ruthlessly chases both of them down. After he catches the thieves, the teachers apologise for not believing him. Over the Clouds Fin Sisson My first sight after the trees fell away was amazing. I could see where we had started, which was a cloudy lake and the destination, a brown cabin on the other side of the jagged ridge. Many tree covered hills surrounded the peak. Mount Washington was not far away, but not close enough on foot. It looked like we had gone extremely far, but we had to go even farther. The peak was crowded by tons of other hikers, so it was hard to find a spot to sit down. I could watch over the millions of trees that have been standing straight for decades. The wind was howling fiercely all over the mountains, but the glowing sun was still shining brightly through the few clouds in the bright blue sky. Everything seemed small from up on the peak, nothing seemed real. I could slightly hear the birds in the stubby evergreen trees around me, but other than that, there was nothing but the faint roar of the wind crashing on the cliffs and the now far away thundering waterfall that I could no longer see, but could still hear like a whisper in my ear. I looked down the ridge, we still had a long way to go, but it started to feel familiar, as I had come here two years ago. I caught a glance of the cabin we stayed at then, it looked so far away, yet so close as if I was walking through the door.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ God Grew Tired of Us Documentary and A Long Walk to Water Blake Ankner In A Long Walk To Water by Linda Sue Park, Salva Mawien Dut Arik is the main character; the book focuses on the struggles to either live or die. Salva Dut goes to school because only boys go to school in their community. During Salva’s day, the Southern Sudanese attack due to the war that is occurring in Sudan. Most people would run and hide, which is what Salva did. He ran to the bush, and never stopped running which started the long walk. M ultiple people ran away and then met up, walking as a group. The rebels took all the boys away to fight, leaving the girls and women to continue. Due to his age, Salva was the only male to continue the walk. A s the children continued their walk, multiple other people passed away, but Salva continued his journey. Later in the book, Salva met up with his uncle which gave him courage to keep going. Unfortunately, Salva suffered many losses along his trip. There were multiple refugee camps and every year some boys got to travel to the United States of America and stay to find a better life. Salva tried out, and failed many times. Will Salva make the cuts in hope to find a better life? “God Grew Tired Of Us” is an amazing documentary about the lost boys and what their life was like. The main characters of this movie were John, Panther, and Daniel. These boys were considered some of the lost boys, they went through tough times and happy times, but still missed their parents. John, Panther, and Daniel walked to refugee camps, in addition they were deprived of food, water, or even a house. When a boy is a Lost Boy, their chances of being killed or captured are higher. All these boys that walked were considered as a family to one another, they all grew up together and all walked as one. Even though it might seem easy to walk, for theses boys it is not so easy. The boys were all very thin, specifically the ones who were not in refugee camps. Although the boys had hard times and happier times, they still had chances to live when in a refugee camp. The three boys (Jon, Panther, Daniel) were all moved to the United States of America including forty seven other boys. However all these boys were sad yet scared to leave but don’t want to pass on the opportunity. The most eye opening thing in this movie was how these boys were not as fortunate and worked at McDonalds, but Jon is happy to have a job. In summary, the movie had multiple examples of perseverance just like how these boys made something from nothing and as a result their life is better. To sum up, we can learn a lot more from them than we think. After reading A Long Walk To Water and viewing “ God Grew Tired Of Us” it made me realize how much I take for granted. For example, is how I always might forget to hug my family when really it should be my number one priority. This is so important because a person will never know what might happen that day. People always worry about if they look cool at the bus stop, but when a person is in a position like Salva, they make sure every day it is their first priority. Other aspects in my life include of how we always have a safe community unlike the Lost Boys; they always have fear and don’t know what might happen that night if they go to sleep. Also, the Lost Boys can’t replenish their supplies for example we can walk a block to Stop and Shop to buy food. In addition, I appreciate now living in a safe place and not acquiring PTSD due to war. Another example is how we can go drive around and go anywhere but these guys have to walk everywhere until they come to the U.S. Finally, I am more appreciative of daily appliances, and items that we might think are accessible all the time, but it is not like this for any of these boys unless they pass a test and come to America. So as a result, we can take in or appreciate a lot more from the lost boys of Sudan.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Untitled Spencer Vermeule the sea is bad, the omens true black and stormy is the ocean blue we fought for control without avail against a titan we could not prevail to cut the ropes our only chance when the ocean asks us to dance we toss and turn on this bed of death the ocean tells us to take a breath the sea silt chills my skin I look around for my kin the opaque waters cloud my eyes the smallest fish a big surprise sharp rocks scrape my face my senses trying to keep up with my pace frantic flailing cannot be heard under these cold waters our fate assured Goal Ryan Gallant The massive opposing player skated backward down the ice. The black puck glided toward the offensive zone. My skate blades cut through the ice, around the opposing team’s defense. The smooth ice surface made me feel like I was walking on air. I stopped briefly near the boards and took a deep breath. I felt the stiff puck on my stick blade and I knew I could make a play. My stick felt light as it glided across the smooth ice. I quickly ripped the puck on net, but the tricky puck bounced out. My strong teammate continued to battle in front of the net, and was able to tip the puck into the net for a goal. Crimson Red Spencer Ankner When I looked out the dining room window of my house, I saw a beautiful maple tree with amazing crimson red leaves. I ran outside and approached the tree to examine the autumn leaves.They felt soft and silky like a pillow or blanket. A branch of the tree was scraping against the side of the window. The leaves cushioned the window to prevent breakage. The leaves smelled like syrup because it was a maple tree. They had an aromatic smell. As the wind blew, the leaves sounded like the crinkle of wrapping paper. A leaf felt velvety like a rose petal as it fluttered like a flag. Three birds were perched on the branch chirping a song as beautiful as a choir. If I could, I would like to take a book and sit and read under the tree.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ My Backyard Daniel Bittner In the corner of the courtyard, sitting on a cold bumpy chair, my frozen legs begin to shiver as I wait for my canine friend. He explores every inch of the tiny yard, as if he’s never seen it before, making me patiently wait. Below my feet, the smooth and soft green moss, infiltrates the cracks of the rough hard bricks. Glistening over a crevice in the fence, hangs a primitive spider web, dotted with small drops of immaculate rain. At the center, stands the creator himself, a hairy black creature weaving layers of thin and light silk, in order to catch its prey. Caught by a single silky thread, a crisp and crinkled leaf, twirls in the gentle autumn breeze. A piercing bark from my dog startles me as an innocent red feathery bird rapidly flaps his wings in the air to escape. Quieting down, my fluffy, furry dog sniffs the rustic scent of the metallic flower pot near the white wooden fence. Through the spotted glass window, sitting on a green cushioned pillow, my mom signals that dinner is ready. Stretching out my cold legs, we go inside the warm house ending our courtyard adventure. Playing Catch at Crane Beach Ben MacDonald I was packed in the Local Motion bus with three different homerooms. I felt like I was a sardine stuffed in a can. As I leap out of the bus, I feel the piercing sun blaze down on my already sweaty skin. I walk up a small hill that is covered in grainy sand. At the top, I see some of my friends throwing around a football. I immediately sprint down the hill to join them. Cormac sees me running down the beach. He tosses me the football, it feels warm and smooth in my hands. I toss it back and lay my bag down on the golden sand. I take off my sandals and let the warm sand run through my toes. As soon as I see the cool, foamy ocean, I sprint to it. I see my other friends playing catch with a tennis ball in the ocean. We play catch for what seems like only an hour, but by the time we get out of the ocean it is almost time to go. The moment I step out of the ocean I feel the scorching sun again. I pack up my towel and my water bottle and I slowly walk to the bus. As I step into the bus, I realize I do not want to leave I also know that I do not want to be packed in this old, stinky bus for the long ride home.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ A Taste of Salt Essay Christopher Eaton A Taste of Salt is a book about two children named Djo and Jeremie who make an unlikely friendship, by Frances Temple. The book starts in a clinic where Djo has been sent after a tragic incident in his home, in Haiti, and is very weak. A girl named Jeremie comes to interview him about his life, because people do not think that he will live. Djo tells the girl about his family, especially his best friend, and cousin, Lally. His mother sends him with Lally to live on their own, so they go to a church where a friendly priest called Titid lives. Djo decides to live in the church with other homeless boys, but finally decides to leave. This leads him to being captured by slave hunters. They send him to a slave plantation to cut cane, where he will stay for many years. The girl that interviews him also has a sad story: she lives in a Haitian slum, but goes to a prestige school. One day, they learn that there will be a vote for president so they go there and are ambushed by the local militia. She will never be the same again. But, will Djo escape his enslavement? Will Titid try to help them both? Read the book to find out. The documentary God Grew Tired of Us is about refugees from South Sudan who go to America. Back then, there was a brutal civil war between North and South Sudan that started in 1983, and people were dying everywhere. The refugees in the movie walked for one thousand miles to a refugee camp called Kakuma refugee camp. There, they spent ten years, and finally, some got chosen to go to America. Those people were Panther, Daniel, and Jon. They arrived in America, and they were amazed by the technology and ways of living. I find it very interesting that the characters somehow manage to keep their old customs. For example, one of the boys wanted to cook, so he poured milk into a mug, put Ritz crackers in it, and mashed them up with a hammer. But, I still feel sorry for the Lost Boys, and I am happy that they could at least live somewhere safe amidst all the chaos in the world. When the Lost Boys chosen to go to America arrive, they are puzzled by many things there, so they give their own explanations. They also have many insightful comments to give. There are some very important ones that everybody could learn from. For example, they find out that everybody in America is rude to them, maybe because of racism, or just because they are like that. The Lost Boys give a good lesson: many people are mean to people new to them, and that it is wrong, even though it is an instinct to human nature. Also, when they arrive in America they are puzzled by all of the uses of electricity. They wonder why somebody has so many things when the same person could do it all himself. When they were in Sudan, they did so many of the same things Americans do with electricity, by hand. Most people could learn something from the Lost Boys who are all wise in their own way, and many people should learn from them. The movie G od Grew Tired of Us and the book A Taste of Salt have very deep meaning, and they help me start to appreciate my life more. For instance, some of the children in A Taste of Salt have parents, but their parents are too poor to keep them, and the others have no parents. In God Grew Tired of Us most of their parents are dead or dying. On the other hand, both of my parents are alive and well, and have enough money to support us. This makes me appreciative for how lucky I am to even have parents and enough money to live well. Also, the Lost Boys are not educated well, and the children in A Taste of Salt are not, either, except Jeremie. I go to a good school, and I am being educated very well. The fact that some people do not have what I do makes me feel more appreciative of what I have, like education. I have everything that I need and even more, and I believe that many people have all that, but they want more. They do not know that there are people that are struggling to survive with just half of what those people have, and I also believe that if they knew, the people would be more appreciative of all they have. I know that I am more appreciative of my life now that I have seen how brutal life can be.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ God Grew Tired Of Us and A Long Walk to Water John Fazli In L ong Walk To Water, Linda Sue Park describes the story of Salva and his journey to a new life. During Salva’s school, the gun shots fire, and Muslim rebels continue their attack. Salva and many people start their journey to Kakuma refugee camp, and they go through many hardships. As the long journey goes by, Salva becomes more of a man and a leader during their journey and at Kakuma. In addition, word comes out that the United States is selecting southern Sudan men also known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, to come and live there. After a couple days, Salva sees his name on a list to be relocated to the United States of America. As a result of being selected, he begins another long journey that will hopefully give him a better life. Will Salva ever make a living in the daunting United States? Read Long Walk to Water to find out. God Grew Tired of Us is a documentary about the challenges that the Lost Boys of Sudan experienced as a result of the civil war that tore their country apart. When the war starts, the people of Sudan begin their journey to Kakuma Refugee Camp. As a consequence, they experiences numerous hardships. For instance, the rebels burned down the huts that they boys were living in together. That was really eye opening because in the movie when they showed this happening, it made me want to cry because when I saw their faces, I could see in their eyes how much they were suffering. I realized how much they were experiencing, and now I appreciate my life much more because I don’t have to go through all of this and I can live my life feeling safe. After a few years at Kakuma, men are selected to go to the U.S and live there. John, Daniel, and Panther are the refugees that the movie centers on. In the United States, John, Daniel, and Panther have to adapt to the new living style, just as when they had to travel to Kakuma. I find that surprising to me because I am so used to the U.S, but I bet if I went to live in Sudan, it would be very different and I would have to adapt. What do you think is next in John, Panther, Daniel, and the rest of the Lost Boys’ life? I am more appreciative of my life because of the movie I watched and the book I read. I am very fortunate not to be in such distress as the lost boys and girls were. They have been through a war, and as a result they have experienced distress. People like me who live the way I do can’t imagine the horrors of those events. Also, I am appreciative of my education. When John, Panther, and Daniel came to America, they had to work extra hours to make more money. They were suffering, just as when they were in Sudan. If they hadn’t been through so much horror and violence and h ad a good education, they could have grown up to be successful human beings. I am very fortunate to go to a great school and have a great education. I don’t know how I could have walked across a country, so in that way, I am proud of the lost children. One thing that stuck out to me was that they were always in a good mood, and therefore, they can teach other people to be happier. I can become a better person by understanding life’s struggle and recognizing the fortune of living in a great place and belonging to an amazing community.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ A Day of Fishing Jack Henderson As soon as we got passed the front gate, I could smell the salty breeze as the wind ran through my hair. While we drove by the marsh, I could hear birds cawing, and I could see white cranes hunting, stalking through the shallow water. Once we reached the parking lot, I noticed that there was only one other bus already there. Then I heard Mr. Minehart say, “All right, grab all your stuff and wait in the parking lot.” When I stepped off the sweaty bus, I was almost shaking with excitement and anticipation. Then I saw everyone start walking up the ramp to get to the beach, so I grabbed my fishing rod and backpack and followed them. Once I reached the sand, I took my flip flops off and walked on the warm sand. As we reached the area where Mrs. Kellogg told us to put our bags, I dropped them and ran to the glassy water. I noticed the sand was no longer warm and dry, but pasty and wet. Along with some other kids I buried my feet up to my ankles at the water's edge and let the foamy waves cover them. Then, I grabbed my football and started playing catch with some other kids, and the abrasive sand got wedged in between the laces of the ball. Once the other busses arrived, I grabbed my fishing pole and tackle box and walked to where we would go fishing. As soon as we got there, it was a frenzy to get bait on the hook and a line in the water. The pungent, dead macril smelled awful. I had to tie a few knots on some kids hooks because they were either too lazy or didn't know how. At last I got to start fishing, and when I casted my line I heard the whooshing sound of the line flying past my ear. A second later, I heard the satisfying plunk of the line hitting the water. After about a half hour of fishing, it was time for lunch, so I had to make the long walk back to our bags. The scorching sand warmed my feet, and in the distance I could see kids already eating. After lunch and mindfulness with Mrs. Smalley, I played some Kanjam and Spike Ball. Then, Mrs. Kellogg called over the whole middle school to do a sand castle building contest by homeroom. My homeroom started out with a huge mound of sand and then sculpted it. We later won the contest and each got a doughnut slightly melted by the warm sun. Before I knew it, the trip was over, so we all ambled over to the buses, not wanting to go yet. Then Mr. Minehart started up the bus and began the long drive back to Fessenden, and we were all talking about what a great trip that we had and wanting to do it again.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Ocean at Crane Beach Niki Page As soon as I stumbled out of the packed bus, I could feel all of my senses wake up. I felt like I was slapped across the face by the harsh, salty smell of the ocean. Also, I could hear the shrieking seagulls fighting and scavenging for scraps of food that people left behind. Countering this was the soft, warm sand under my feet soothing all of the tension in my legs, and the warm rays of light from the sun seeping under my skin enlightening my day. I could also taste the odd saltiness from the ocean. With all of the excitement stored in me, I sprinted to claim a spot on the beach. Quickly, my friends and I set up Spikeball, which is a game that has two teams of two trying to spike a ball on a trampolinelike net, and have the other team not be able to hit it back. After about 30 minutes of diving and jumping into the sand while playing Spikeball, I ate my toasted bagel with cream cheese, and headed for the shoreline. When I first jumped into the water, I could feel my spine jolt up and stiffen from the sudden, scary chill of the water. Then, my body slowly started to get used to the change in temperature, and I eased myself in until the water came up to about my shoulders. I felt completely comforted by the cooling ocean cuddling me in the water. The same cycle repeated itself as the day went on. Play in the warm sand when I wanted, and jump into the refreshing water when I got hot. Crane Beach is a beautiful place, and I wish I could have stayed longer, but I had to leave sometime. When I got back onto the bus, I said my last goodbye to Crane Beach. USA vs. Russia Jack Ryan It all began when my twelve year old brother got an invitation to an international hockey tournament. We accepted the invite and planned the trip. We flew out the next night to Iceland, then had a two hour layover there, then we flew to Sweden, and finally to Prague. The trip to Iceland was overnight. When we landed in Prague we were all tired because of the time zone and jet lag. When we got off the plane I was horrified to see a ton of tubby metal statues that were Prague's people. When we were out of the airport I spotted our car and a sad man in it; he was our driver. When we got in the car we drove to the hotel to unpack, and after that we went to the team's first game. Team USA played against Team Russia. We won that game. My brother got the winning goal, 32. Team USA went on to win the tournament.

Albemarle Grade 6 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Scary But Exciting Day Takuma Noguchi How would you feel like, if you had to stand up and speak in front of a bunch of strangers? This is what happened to me and my friends who participated in the first speech contest in an the Nashoba Brooks School on January 9th. I went to the speech contest to have a good experience, so that it would benefit me in the future. It was a big day. At first, I was nervous, but then I became confident, and finally I came in 6th for my declamation. I practiced my speech very hard during the winter break, and it was very difficult and tiring. When I came back to the Fessenden School, I still continued to study hard and it took me a very long time to prepare for the speech contest. I practiced over, and over again to make sure I was able to remember all the words, and show some emotion and use some expressions to get attention from the audience. When the day came, I was very nervous, and it took me a long time to calm myself. At that moment, I stood up in front of everyone, I was so nervous. But after the first, then the second round, I was able to speak with a higher volume and at a good pace. I started to have more confidence in myself. I think the reason I could speak well, was because I myself enough time to practice, so I started to believe in myself and in my own words. All the other students from various schools, public and private, were Americans, who spoke at a good pace and their words were very clear. I was amazed at the clarity of their voices. It is still a question to me, how I was able to get honorable mention. I first thought that they were better than me, but then I realized that I was well prepared, which gave me confidence. I think that this experience was very precious, because it informed me that even if you have odds are against you, it does not mean that you will lose. I was recognized in the middle school speech contest, but next time I am going to the high school speech contest, so I need to practice more effectively, so that I can become a better speaker. Even though I won the 6th place, I think next time others may not go easy on me, so next time I will work harder. There were some things that I needed to fix, so I am looking forward to fixing all the mistakes and challenging myself at the speech contest at the next contest. The thing I did not do so well at was idle movement, so next time I want to use intentional movement. I am also looking forward to getting a good grade and that I was able gain new skills and practice to improve even more. That was the story of my scary, but exciting day at the speech contest. Even though it seemed scary at first, I was able to enjoy myself with my classmates and to create wonderful memories. Participating in the speech contest for the first time could be a hard experience, but after all it may also be an exciting one. The Beautiful Sun Rise Cormac Gallagher The cool wind blew around me, while giant trees danced with the wind. As the wet dew leaked into my socks, and the soggy mulch stuck to my shoes, while I strolled by the flowers. Chilly water floated around in the lake, as my toes turned numb. At the same time the gorgeous pink sun rose out of the horizon after dawn. During my nice refreshing swim, the old dock creaked as a wave pushed it around in the water. Just as the annoying seagull landed and pooped on the dock. I walked around the lawn, when I caught a sniff of the salty odor from the lake. I could hear the constant chirping of seagulls as they flew around in circles above the water.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________

The Aeneid The Final Chapter

Grade Six Latin participated in a special multidimensional project based on the iconic and epic poem, The Aeneid by Vergil. The journey of Aeneas starts during the Trojan War and continues through an adventurous odyssey that parallels Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey. Aeneas must fulfill his destiny, that being founding the area that would become Rome. The story ends abruptly and in a cliffhanger with Aeneas putting an end to his antagonist, Turnus, in the name of loyalty and pride. (In truth, Vergil himself passed away before finishing the story.)

The boys were tasked with writing a final chapter or poem. Ad astra! 60

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter Matthew Smalley After Aeneas kills Turnus, Aeneas flees to West Newton and builds his house. There he thinks for ten years feeling remorse about killing Turnus. One day he is about to go to sleep but a letter is slipped through the door. He runs to the window to see who sent it. No one was there. He opens the letter and reads. Dear My Son, Aeneas, King Latinus has been murdered by Juturna. She heard that he helped you in the war.We have her trapped in the dungeon in the ruins of a castle. She has said that she did not know it was him. She meant to kill you. His back was turned when she stabbed him. If you need anything call for me. I am so sorry for your loss. With love, Your mom, Venus After he reads this he bursts into tears. After an hour of crying, Aeneas falls asleep. The next day he decides to get revenge on Juturna and return to Latium. When he gets there, things are different. The grass is green, the roses are red, and the people aren’t fighting. In the distance, he sees his son, Ascanius, walking in the fields. Aeneas runs so fast the grass beneath him sways. As Ascanius looks at him, he sees his father and runs to him. When Aeneas is about to hug his son, Ascanius goes right through him. It seems that Aeneas has become so crazy looking for his family and friends that he has started hallucinating. At night, he runs to his former home, but as he walked through the front door, he is surprised. The shades are ripped, the walls are crumbling, there is writing on the back of the front door. “If you want to fight me, then come find me right behind you” Aeneas turns around and is slashed across the face with a blade. As he regained his consciousness, he looks above to see the most cruel face he has ever seen. There are wrinkles, dark spots and written messages all over Juturna’s face. He scrambles to his feet and defends himself against the endless blows he is experiencing. Finally, the hitting stops and a crackly voice speaks. “You know me. I killed the king. You killed my brother and I will kill you!” Aeneas tries to get his sword from his belt but it is not there. He is so weak one more blow could make him collapse. But as he is waiting for his death, Juturna backs away and leaves. The next morning Aeneas awakes on the floor. But he is not in his house. He is in a dark sad place. The Underworld. He stands up and follows a small kid to the most amazing place he has ever seen. Everything is fresh and bright. Nice people, big houses, water fountains and fresh and clear water ponds. Where are we? Aeneas asks himself. The boy answers. He says they are in the Elysian Fields. Right before Aeneas can reply, he is returned to the world above. When he wakes up he is greeted by a tall skinny man. The man tells Aeneas that Juturna has been banished by Venus to Tartarus. When he hears this, he goes outside to celebrate but his door is blocked with people shouting, “Hero, Hero, Hero!” “What is going on?” asked Aeneas. “You’re our new king,” shouts someone in the front. “Why?” he replies “You are the reason Juturna is dead.” “We hated her,” another said. The next day Aeneas was crowned king of Latium. The prince was Ascanius. Soon after Aeneas is crowned king he marries Lavinia. And they lived Happily ever after.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter: The Big Fight Cameron Mackenzie Aeneas, with all the rage that he has, hits him again with a spear. He takes Pallas’ belt off of Turnus and shows that he won. Some of the Latin army try to fight Aeneas but the Trojan army kills them. The rest of the Latin army flees the battlefield. What army can’t fight without a leader? Aeneas and his army have a long trek home to Troy. It takes them about 578 hours to get to Troy. When they get home, they have a massive party for the win over the Latins. The party goes on for a very long time. The party took four hours and almost everyone was there. After the party ended, everyone went back to their normal lives. Aeneas went to his home to relax because the battle was very big and difficult. He had some of the soldiers from the war at his house too. Aeneas hears about someone going into the Underworld and bringing back the people that he loves. Aeneas wondered to himself about trying to do what this man had done. Aeneas thinks about this and he decides that he will try it. Aeneas needs to prepare to go into the Underworld so he repairs his armour and his sword. It takes about a day to prepare but he is finally ready. Aeneas starts his journey into the Underworld. He walks for a while until he gets to the gates. He goes into the Underworld and sees all of his friends and family and even his army. Aeneas asks Pluto If he can bring Aeneas’ friends and family and because he saw them, his army. Pluto says that the only people that he can bring back are his army. Aeneas says that he will take his army back to the world. Pallas tells Aeneas that he has something very important to tell him. He tells Aeneas that Turnus had a baby before he died. This is a big problem to Aeneas because the baby isn’t a baby anymore. The baby is now 20 years old. Turnus’ sun is named Turnus Iunior. Aeneas also understood that if he died that Turnus Iunior would kill the person who killed him. That meant that Turnus Iunior would be coming for Aeneas. Aeneas was happy that Pluto gave him his army back. Aeneas said to his army and blacksmiths that they should start to build weapons and sharpen their swords because there would be a big fight. Turnus Iunior gets his army ready too because he knows that Aeneas knows that he is going to fight him. The preparation takes a long time but they are finally ready. Aeneas starts to march before Turnus Iunior does. He goes about 40 miles until Turnus Iunior starts to march. Aeneas meets Turnus Iunior at the field of battle. Turnus Iunior sees that he has a mostly ghost army. He wonders where Aeneas got them but he doesn’t ask. The two of them start the battle. They both kill a lot of people. The battle is so big that people in the nearby village can hear them. The battle goes on for a while. Then Aeneas see Turnus Iunior. He says that they need to fight. They enter a 1 VS 1 battle. They both said a lot of things to each other. Aeneas finally hit Turnus Iunior in the shoulder and he fell to the ground. Aeneas says that he failed in what his father had told him to do. Aeneas takes his sword and puts it over his head and strikes. His sword hits something that was not Turnus Iunior. His sword hit a rock that Juno threw at him. Aeneas is upset that she threw the stone at him. But when she threw the stone, Turnus Iunior gets back up. Juno heals Turnus Iunior's wounded shoulder. She also makes him stronger than he was before. This makes Aeneas work much harder than he did before. This also makes it so the small battle takes much longer. Aeneas hits Turnus Iunior again and he falls just as he did the first time. This time, he just strikes him again so no one will kill him or block his strike. The battle ends with Aeneas winning. They burn all of the dead bodies of his and Turnus Iunior’s army. After all of the bodies are burned, he heads back to Troy. They have another big party taking about twice the time of their first one. Aeneas still thinks about the prophecy that was set for him. Aeneas eventually dies and two people named Romulus and Remus end his prophecy.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Final Chapter: Rise of the Turni Jack Henderson Soon after Aeneas killed Turnus, Juno went down to the Underworld to bargain with the god of the dead, Pluto. She traveled to the Underworld to bargain for the soul of Turnus who died bravely in combat with Aeneas. Pluto said he wanted a wife who would stay in the Underworld with him. Juno agreed and found him a wife and Pluto handed over the soul of Turnus. Juno left the Underworld and searched for King Aeolus, the king of winds. She demanded he give her the winds on the behalf of Jupiter. King Aeolus gave them to her and she flew Turnus to Aeneas. When they arrived at the camp, Aeneas and his men were organizing themselves. She set Turnus down in the nearby woods and told him that he was near the camp of Aeneas. Turnus found armour and a sword and approached the camp. As he approached the camp, Venus sensed what Juno was planning and went down to confront her. Venus told her to stop but Juno said she could not control what happened next. Then Venus vanished and Juno made hundreds of apparitions of Turnus and sent them to surround the camp that Aeneas was in. Then Turnus joined them realizing that Aeneas would not be able to tell which one was him. As Juno and Turnus were preparing for an all out assault, Venus appeared as the guard of the camp and warned Aeneas what was happening. Aeneas roused his men because they were sleeping in their tents. The men silently gathered their weapons and snuck out on the opposite side of camp that the Turni were starting to surround. They gathered in the woods and spotted the Turni encircling the camp. The men let out a gasp as they saw the wall slowly moving towards them. Juno’s activities caught the eye of Jupiter and he watched closely as the Turni surrounded the camp and sensed this was at the hand of Juno. Aeneas also figured this out too and headed for high ground to see just how many of the Turni there were at the camp. When he reached a cliff he could see the entire mass of the Turni but then he also saw one of the Turni talking to an old hag. He figured this hag was Juno. He spread out his arms and shouted, praying to Jupiter to take Juno and her army away. At this same time, Turnus was talking with Juno, who was in the form of a hag, about their location. She told him to search the woods and then Turnus told her to send the illusions of him into the woods to spook them. Juno sent them into the woods, but then when one of Aeneas's men came up from behind and tried to stab it, the illusion just vanished. He shouted to his other comrades that they were fakes and the real Turnus was by the camp with the hag. While this was happening, Venus had also been to the Underworld to retrieve the soul of Pallas to have him get his revenge. Once Venus and Pallas reached the mortal world they called on Jupiter for a favor. He brought them close to the battlefield. Then Venus told Pallas what he must do. Aeneas, seeing his comrades moving in on Juno and Turnus, wondered what was happening because the clone army of Turnus had suddenly vanished just leaving what had to be the real one. Aeneas headed down to the camp and when he reached it thunder boomed and lightning crackled. Along with one of the lightning strikes, Juno disappeared , and Aeneas knew his prayer had been answered. Turnus now stood alone, his sword ready. Then suddenly he charged at Aeneas. Aeneas already had his spear ready so he heaved it at the oncoming Turnus. The spear barreled down on Turnus and, before he could react, it hit him in the thigh. Then emerging from the woods, Pallas, going at a full sprint, reached Turnus and brandished his sword. Turnus, seeing him, began to beg for mercy but before he could finish, Pallas stabbed the sword through his chest. Aeneas and his men had a feast and a party for the second killing of Turnus and the reincarnation of Pallas.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Rising of Turnus Undead John Ryan A full moon shone amidst the stars, and the black sky. Aeneas and his comrades rested in their peaceful camp, unaware as to what was going on beneath them. Beneath the grass, dirt and rock that Aeneas slept on, was a world of fire. Pluto, the god of the Underworld, flung his wrath over all who had cheated or lied throughout their lives on earth. After hours of listening to the grand parties that were happening above him, Pluto was beginning to become sick of Aeneas, although he still let their celebrations continue. Night after night, and day after day Aeneas and his men partied their heroic bravery that led to the downfall of Turnus. They sang, danced, and ate to their hearts’ content. “Have they forgotten that they were going to build a city on this land that they worked so hard for?” Pluto thought to himself. “Do they even care anymore?” Aeneas and his men partied, until Pluto could listen anymore. Pluto concluded that siding with Juno was the best way to silence the victorious army. Pluto flew through the Underworld searching for all of Aeneas’s enemies, including Turnus and all of the men that had been killed by Aeneas and his men. They were sent through the gate of ivory, and up into the world where the helpless Aeneas was resting. They flew over the seas and many lands, until, after a tedious journey, they reached Aeneas’s camp. Aeneas woke to the sound of his screaming comrades, and another sound. A sound that Aeneas couldn’t depict, although he was certain that he had heard it before. It was the wailing sound of those who were no longer, the sound of the dead. Aeneas bolted out of his tent, only to become face to face with Turnus. Turnus charged at Aeneas, wielding a spear, like a madman. Aeneas nimbly dodged his undead enemy, and after doing so, he whirled around, and stabbed Turnus with a golden sword, that had been sent to him by the god Venus, sending his wild foe deep into the pits of Tartarus. While the great battle was raging on, Ascanius, Aeneas’s son snuck off, and began a long and treacherous journey down to the fiery caverns that made up the Underworld. He traveled over oceans, across great deserts, hacked through bayous and jungles, until he reached the entrance to the Underworld. As he approached the sloshing black waters of the River Styx, a rock appeared in front of him. Its entrance was so sudden that with a great splash, Ascanius fell into the river. After a few minutes of sloshing around, he dragged himself out of the water, and after reviewing the events of the past minute he realized that he must be immortal. With a new surge of confidence, Ascanius made his way back to the camp, where all of his friends were fighting their hearts out, trying to defeat the undead army. Ascanius charged into the heat of the battle, slashing at everyone who came anywhere near him. One by one the ghastly undead warriors were sent back to where they belonged. Aeneas and his son embraced one another after they sent the last of the ghosts back to the Underworld. Their party went on late into the night and Aeneas and Ascanius only got a few private words together. “Will we build a city here, Dad?” Ascanius asked his dad. Aeneas took a minute, and then answered. “We will build a magnificent city son. It will tower over all others, and we will rule over it together.” We will?” asked Ascanius. “We will my son. Yes, we will.”

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter: Rise Of Juno John Broderick After Aeneas beat Turnus in the battle, he walked to his great city. When Aeneas entered the city, he is filled with happiness because this country is the place where the greatest empire will reign. When Aeneas married Lavinia both of the armies joined and his whole country became a palace. The Latins and the Trojans joined together as the empire. However Juno was filled with anger. She still wanted to kill Aeneas and to kill the whole country, but Juno had to think of ideas. With Turnus dead she had no more ideas and she has to think. Aeneas’ city was growing rapidly. Soon the city hit a roadblock and there was a famine and a plague and people were dying. At this time there were also other mysterious armies and cities forming in the area. Aeneas thought this was Juno’s idea. Aeneas was right; Juno had finally had a idea and told other cities in the area to attack Aeneas’s city. Juno made the other countries in complete rage mode. Aeneas tried to call to his mother but no one helped and he had to go into battle against the other forces. The battle had begun and Aeneas could not win. Lots of his soldiers were getting killed and the other forces were gaining on the city. While they were fighting, the plague was tearing through Aeneas’ city. Aeneas’ luck then turned for the worst when Queen Amata caught the plague and it spread all out the city. Surprisingly, the other armies were not catching the plague. Then in one of the battles on a rainy morning the other forces captured Aeneas and brought him away. After this the plague stopped and the town was back to normal except missing Aeneas. Aeneas woke up the next morning in a dark room with the armies surrounding him. The people said they were the Troyas and were all the soldiers who died from Troy. Aeneas could see Hector and many other of his friends. They said that they were going to kill him so he could be on their team. Aeneas did not want this. He tried to escape but he could not. They were stronger then he remembered. They placed Aeneas in a small dark room. Aeneas sat there for a while thinking of what would happen next. In the next moment, doors opened on the side and warriors appeared with swords and axes. Aeneas called out “Venus, save me”. Then a big crack sound happened and there was a big opening in the wall and Aeneas ran out of it. Aeneas finally escaped the army and he also killed all the Troyas when he found out how to kill them. When Aeneas found out where he was he was terrified. He was in old destroyed Troy. He sat on the beach throwing rocks into the cold ocean wondering if he would ever see his family again. All of his memories came back from the Trojan war. The Palace was deserted and he had nothing to do. He walked into the crusty city of Troy and saw his old house and old clothes and old city. He then saw bones of people in the city and he ran out with fear. Aeneas had to think of ideas but he could not think of anything. Aeneas in about a year’s time finally build a boat out of stuff near the city. Meanwhile in Aeneas’ new city, people started to get angry and tried to stop the rule of Lavinia. Aeneas had been sailing for a long time now and felt that he had made no progress. Then one night, a big storm came and swept him into Carthago. When he got there it was a ghost town and there was no one there and he was getting very nervous about what he had done to this city when he left Dido. That night, a second storm came and destroyed his ship. Aeneas repaired his ship and set sail for his city. He finally arrived at his city. About 3 years had passed and he was surprised at how big of a city it was. In the city, Lavinia was considering giving up her rule and giving it to someone else because, with no Aeneas, it was hard to fight off other countries and to control the country. When aeneas finally got on the grounds of his city no one recognized him he was like a ghost. When Aeneas finally got to Lavinia, he said, “It’s me... Aeneas . I have come home.”

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ RISE Charlie Irwin In the cities Alba Longa and Latium, everyone is peaceful and happy. Aeneas is starting to train Ascanis who is 20 years old; he is showing signs of being a great warrior. Meanwhile, Turnus wants revenge on Aeneas and is hoping Juno can save him from the Underworld. Juno knew she has lost but she has one hope. Juno came down to the Underworld and made a bargain with Pluto for Turnus and his comrades’ souls. Juno was going to give Pluto her best nymphs in exchange for Turnus's soul. Pluto grudgingly agreed but he needed something else from Juno. He wanted to stop being the god of the underworld because he thought since he was the oldest he should be the god of the sky. Juno needed Turnus so she said yes for only three months of the year and hoped Jupiter would not be as angry. Jupiter heard the news that Pluto would be the sky god for three months of the year and he was furious. He immediately sided with Venus and Aeneas and banished Pluto to never come up from the Underworld again. Juno was happy because she got Turnus and all his comrades, but knew that Pluto would soon figure out they he had been Betrayed. Jupiter disguised himself as a fortune teller and told him that he should prepare for war because Turnus was released from the Underworld. Aeneas was frightened by the news. He knew he was too old to fight Turnus so he needed to teach Ascanius even faster. Meanwhile Venus heard the news that Jupiter has sided with Aeneas. She went to talk with him about a gift to give Aeneas’s son, Ascanius. Jupiter obliged and gave Ascanis a lightning sword. Juno had met up with Turnus and told him to attack Aeneas and his men on the day they had their original battle 10 years ago. Aeneas, meanwhile, was training Ascanius double time to get him ready for the battle. Finally the day came when the sun rose. Aeneas spotted Turnus and all of his men on the horizon. They had brought catapults and archers and swords. But worst of all Juno was fighting too. The battle had just started and both sides dove straight into a ferocious battle. Aeneas, even though he was older, fought hard and still lived up to his name. But the real warrior was Ascanius, he fought incredibly. As soon as he started to swing his sword you knew someone would get cut down. His sword was so sharp that it could cut through any type of armour. The battle lasted 10 days both sides were subdued substantially finally it was just Turnus, Ascanius, Aeneas and Juno. Jupiter was furious that Juno was in a mortal battle and asked her to come out. Aeneas ran at Turnus. With their swords clashing, they were both exceptional fighters and there was no clear winner. But after an hour of fighting, Turnus noticed that Aeneas was becoming too old for battles and saw a weakness. Aeneas knew he could never win this battle, he knew he was to old. So he let Turnus stab him so he could go down with pride. Ascanius who was watching saw his father stop fighting and go still. Ascanius knew what was going to happen. He let a scream and ran told his father but he was too late. The sword sunk into Aeneas’ chest. His body fell slack and his eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground. Ascanius a flame with rage charged at Turnus but Turnus was also very skilled. They battled for a while but finally Ascanius swung his sword and Turnus fell to the ground. Ascanius took one final blow and Turnus died. Ascanius was victories and he was the new new king but he was still sad that Aeneas died.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter: A Journey Michael Berman Aeneas and Lavinia had fallen in love. Their land had prospered as the prophecy stated, and both were grateful and happy. This was the golden age of Lavinium when there was no war and only peace. Unfortunately this lasted very few months, as Juturna came back to disrupt Aeneas’ and Lavinia’s relationship. Once again she disguises herself as a guard for the palace where Aeneas was. She tells Aeneas that Lavinia wishes to be with another man, his name is Flatinius and he is a general for the Lavinian army. Aeneas hears this and is furious. In his fury, he stupidly banishes himself to the meadows. Venus sees her son unhappy and angry and wants to find out why because he is the greatest leader of all time! This is unacceptable. Aeneas stays in the meadow for a few days eating the crops and sleeping in the trees. Through this gap of leadership, the citizens get through the frightening time smoothly as they always do. After days of thinking, Venus sees that Juturna is discussing her plot to bring down Lavinium with an evil river nymph who lives in the stream that surrounds the city of Lavinium. Venus realizes that it was Juturna who caused it. Venus doesn’t know how, but she does and is going to go after her and force her to confess to Aeneas and Lavinia. She knows that she will need backup though because she is dealing with another god. So she calls a meeting in Olympus to see who would like to go on the journey and selects three gods to help. Neptune, Pluto, and Diana volunteer to help Aeneas. They know Juturna has probably fled by now so they start their journey. They stop in major points along the way, not seeing her anywhere and eventually stop in Ithaca to rest. They go to Odysseus's manor, a fierce warrior who has gone on long journeys himself and is supposed to be back from the war. They are welcomed and in the morning, they ask where Odysseus is; he is said to have been lost at sea. They begin their journey in the morning and head to Carthago, the last major city on their list. This is where they find the city looking like a slave camp. The people are working, the children do nothing, while water is highly scarce. They find the palace and enter it to find Juturna, and Juno!? The gods gasp as they see Juno. The gods want an answer from Juno about why she is here and what she has done to the city of Carthago. Juno says and admits that she as well wants to overthrow Lavinium. She is angry with Aeneas for getting his way. While this is happening, Pluto sneaks up behind Juturna and captures her! He smuggles her out of the palace without being seen until Diana and Pluto have left and returned to Lavinium with Juturna. Meanwhile, Juno says she has Carthago like this to search for Aeneas who has fled the meadow. She is turning it into her own place where she shall have Juturna rule. Juno finds out that Juturna is missing and that is when the gods flee! Neptune and Venus escape to the ocean into Neptune’s realm and go all the way back to Lavinium. By the time they get back, Juturna has confessed and all is peaceful. The kingdom receives each of the gods a thank you. Neptune receives a gold silver dollar, Diana receives a silver moon statue, Pluto receives a black staff, and Venus receives a ruby heart. Lavinium is great again. Aeneas is found in the woods miles away from the city and returns after his mother tells him all is peaceful again.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Aeneid: Final Chapter Ted Richards After killing Turnus, Aeneas decides that he will befriend the Latins. If they are allies, he thought, they may benefit in many ways. He goes to the Latins and quickly befriends them. They are saddened by their chief’s death, but King Latinus wants no more strife, so he and Aeneas make the Pax Romana, a peace treaty between the Romans and the Latins. Aeneas is happy about it, but he isn’t so sure about the making of his own empire. “Alas...” said Aeneas, “I have seen and killed many great things. I have traveled far and wide. But, how can I be pleased with my actions, if I won’t even see them?” Aeneas thought and thought, but then he realised that he would need an object that would have power BEYOND THE GODS! He realized that he alone didn’t possess the power to make an object that could do this, and he came to the conclusion that he would have team up, with heroes dead and alive, and work as a team. First, he went to the Underworld. He dug a pit. He sacrificed a lamb and an ewe, and put the blood in it. He then called up the greatest heroes of his time and before then. He called up Achilles, Odysseus and Archimedes. He asked them if they would join him on his quest to create an object that can warp time itself. They drank from the blood, and then all told him they would join him; who wouldn’t want to live again? Afterwards, they traveled to Olympus, and told the gods of his noble quest to see the greatest empire of all time. Unfortunately, they thought it would be best if he wasn’t alive to witness it. Then, Achilles, Odysseus and Archimedes left him; if they disobeyed the gods, they might not be able to go to Elysium when they died. So, Aeneas went to the underworld. However, this time he didn’t seek heroes. The gods were confused, because they had no idea what Aeneas was doing. He went to Tartarus, where Saturn was held, and collected a sample of his blood. He put it in a vial and went to Olympus, where he asked for celestial bronze, which was necessary for the making of this timepiece. When they denied him, he was furious. “How dare they deny me!” “Am I not of their blood?!?” He went to the Olympic mines and mined it himself, but with the last strike, the pickaxe somehow hits his both of his eyes. Before he can scream in agony, he hears a booming laugh. “You may not be able to see your empire, but you will be there to witness it. Enjoy your timepiece!” And with that, it appeared in Aeneas’s hand fully functioning. “MOTHER, AVENGE ME! CURSE WHOEVER DID THIS TO ME!” Aeneas shouted. Sadly, Aeneas didn’t realise that it was the gods that cursed him. The Final Battle! Charles Wang After a few weeks of settling in Italus, Aeneas still hasn’t gotten over the fight with Turnus. Juno haunts his dreams, telling him he will suffer before he dies. He feels livid and angry all the time. However, he still went about his daily schedule. The Trojan men were preparing for a party celebrating their new city. At the party, there would be sporting events and competitions. Aeneas would be participating and giving a speech. As they prepared, Aeneas’s mind was getting controlled by Juno. He did things he didn’t mean to. He hit his friends randomly, he screamed in the middle of the night. Aeneas was becoming so violent that they locked him up in his room. Juno planned to kill him there with nobody watching. She sent one thousand arrows through the window in his room. None of them struck. Bewildered, Juno sent one thousand more arrows. They couldn’t get past his window. Juno knew that it was Venus trying to save Aeneas. she went to Jupiter and asked him if Venus could be punished. “Venus has done nothing wrong, my dear wife. In the meantime, stop trying to harm Aeneas or you will be punished,” Jupiter said. It was one day before the big celebration. Juno, remembering Jupiter’s warning, stopped trying to mess with Aeneas’ mind. Instead she visited Apollo, god of poetry, archery, and prophecy. “What will happen if Aeneas lives?” asked Juno. Apollo’s eyes turned green and smoke began to come out of his mouth. He spoke in a dark, hollow voice, “Your beloved city will fall to 68

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ his wrath. He will destroy everything you’ve created on Earth. Choose the wrong path and you will fall; kill him and you will be burned in the hearth.” Apollo came back to normal and had no idea what he just said. Juno immediately made a plan to kill Aeneas. She could not allow Carthage to fall because of him. She knew she was disobeying Jupiter’s rule, but fear overcomes people and gods. Juno became enraged and went into Aeneas’s dreams while he was asleep right before the big celebrations. “You will fall before me, Trojan. Yours will be death like no other human. Tomorrow we fight each other, and you will reach your bitter end!” Aeneas woke screaming in terror; he tried to recall his dream, but Juno seemed to have left without a trace in his mind. Venus helped him get back to sleep. It was the day of the big celebration. Aeneas had prepared his speech for the people under his command. He left his house and went to the big plaza with his son, Ascanius. As he was going up to the podium, Juno’s words repeated in his head. Fearing for his life, Aeneas ran to the armor room, where he frantically searched for his weapons and armor. The people had no idea what was going on. While Aeneas was gone, they continued the celebration without him giving his speech. Adults were drinking wine while the children were having wrestling contests. When it was time for the big feast, Aeneas returned looking ready for battle. He did not eat, but he stared at the sky waiting for something to happen. Suddenly, he was knocked off his feet by an invisible force. Aeneas swung his sword around, hitting exactly where he was just standing. Nothing was there. The sky began to turn black. The rivers stopped running. The waterfalls froze and became solid, and then an epic cry ran out. It was so loud that the sky seemed to shake. The people of the city fled to their houses. Some stayed, but a strong wind blew them far away. The scream continued and Aeneas covered his ears with all his might. When the scream stopped, a woman descended from the sky in full battle armor. She radiated hatred and evil; her shield had the head of a snake on it. Aeneas recognized her immediately. She was the god trying to kill him all this time. “Juno,” Aeneas said slowly, “Finally you have the guts to face me one on one.” Juno laughed, “You think I was trying to hurt you? Those were just warm ups.”. Juno threw her sword at lightning speed and it struck the tree right behind Aeneas. Aeneas rushed forward, his spear raised high, a look of anger on his face, and he plunged his spear deep into Juno’s shield. The hit shattered the weapon. Juno didn’t even budge, instead, she pulled out the spear and the shield repaired itself on its own. “You can’t beat me mortal. I am one of the most powerful gods, so you will fall before me!” she yelled. Juno flicked her finger and Aeneas writhed in pain and his body was on fire. He thought he was going to die, but something extinguished the fire and healed him. Aeneas heard two voices in his head, they were of two women. When his senses came back to normal he saw his mom, Venus, shooting shafts of moonlight at Juno. She backed Juno to a cliff, where she gave one last look of hatred at Aeneas. “This isn’t over, Trojan.. Juno raised her arms and shot into the sky and Venus followed. Aeneas’s vision went blurry and everything went black.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Aeneid the Final Chapter Shep Hearle After Aeneas kills Turnus, the war is over or so he thought. But then, the king that gave Aeneas his son asked him for more land. Instead of having a feud over who is going to give him more land, Aeneas gives some of his own land to him. After many years of peace , Aeneas decides to get married. When he gets married, the wedding is amazing there are flowers and jewels and other wedding gifts. Then, 5 years pass and they are just fine. During this time Ascanius’ wife bore him a boy and then a twin girls. Just when Aeneas thought that he could let his guard down, his son Ascanius was murdered in his sleep. He was devastated and decided that it must of one of the gods that did this. He asked his closest friends to come with him to track down the murder. But, Jupiter already knew who it was. It was Minerva, Juno, and Turnus’s godly sister Juturna. Jupiter punished them for the killing of Turnus. But that did not stop Aeneas to chase them down and hurt them. During all of this Ascanius goes down to the underworld and is put into the Distant fields. When he is there he goes and finds his grandfather named Anchises. He stays with him what feels like a year but really only 2 months. Then, he remembers that his Mother was down here he has not seen her since the final day of the Trojan war. The next day he said goodbye to his grandfather and went out to find his Mother. After years of searching he cannot find her. So, he goes and to his grandfather and tells him the bad news. Then, he says to his grandfather that he is going to drink from the River Lethe. Although his grandfather does not like the idea he says he should do it. Iulus which is his other name does it and when he is reborn he is reborn as a descendant of himself but he does not know that. Back in the real world it is about 3 years later, but Aeneas is still on the search for the people or gods that killed his son. He has made hundreds of offerings to Jupiter and Apollo who is the patron god of Troy, but both gods have said or done nothing. Until one day Apollo comes down to Aeneas’s boat in a ball of flame like the sun. He says to Aeneas that the goddess that he is looking for are in a huge cave in troy. Then Apollo leaves. Aeneas immediately turns his boat around to head for Troy and finds the cave. He does not go in for two days until everything is perfect, but the goddesses do not know that he is outside. When Aeneas finally goes in, they storm the place and chaining up the goddess, he says to them, “Why did you kill my son?” They say because you killed my brother, and one of your people did not choose us as the fairest of the three.”That is why,” he says back to them, “you took a man’s life because someone said that you were not the fairest!?” and with that said he left with the goddess still tied up in the cave. When he got back to his land, he told the people of his adventures and how he just left the goddess there. Then he talked privately to Iulus’ family and how sad they were and how sad he was. He also said that Iulus would not want them to mourn over his death but to keep going on their own lives. With that, they lived good lives.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter: Trojans vs. Latins Noah Kalvelage After killing Turnus, Aeneas is determined to start building Lavinium. However, before he can start, Juturna sneaks into his room as he sleeps, and kills him. In the morning, she parades his corpse around in the chariot she used with Turnus, trying to make the Trojans angry. It works, and as soon as Venus finds out about Aeneas’s death, she rallies the Trojan men for a surprise attack on the Latins. Iulus, wishing to avenge his father’s death, leads the Trojans into the battle. Because of Iulus’ incredible leadership, and Venus’s help, the Trojans defeat the Latins easily in a battle that lasts only nine days. Following up on Aeneas’s promise of equality, Iulus allows all the Latins who surrendered to stay in the city if they choose. About half of the Latins choose to stay, refusing to leave their beloved city. Unsure of what to do with Latium, Iulus decides to go on a journey to rescue his father from the Underworld. He takes his ten best soldiers, and leads them on a quest to save Aeneas. He spends multiple days travelling on a boat, heading to Sicily, where he will find the gates of the Underworld. Eventually, Iulus reaches the gates, and meets up with Sibyl, the priestess who led Aeneas through the underworld. Sibyl leads Iulus and his soldiers through the Underworld to the Elysian fields, where he meets up with his father. Immediately after seeing his son, Aeneas starts to ask questions. “What are you doing here? Were you killed too?” Aeneas asks worriedly. Iulus assures him that he is alive and well, and that he only came to bring his father back to Latium. Aeneas immediately responds, “Don’t worry about me. My time has passed. You must take charge now. Rebuild Latium. Call it Lavinium. Our family will become the greatest ever known. You must fulfill the destiny that my father gave me.” At first, Iulus refuses to leave without his father, but he soon realises that he must do as his father asks. On his way out of the Underworld, he sees his mother, Creusa. He begs her to come back with him, but she says almost the same thing Aeneas does. Iulus is even more devastated by this than when his father refused to come. However, Iulus realises the importance of what his parents have said, and heads back to Latium. Wanting to make his parents proud, Iulus leaves to go back to Latium, which would soon be known as Lavinium. After getting back to Latium, Iulus tells his men to knock Latium down to the ground, and rebuild it as Lavinium. Determined to make his father proud, Iulus starts to work on creating Lavinium.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Revenge John Fazli After many years, Aeneas and Julus thrive in their village they call Alba longa. Many people live there, and they are all happy. But, deep in the underworld, Romulus and Remus seek revenge against their long lost brother. “How dare Venus break our father’s heart!!!” Romulus says “How are we supposed to kill Venus if she is immortal.”Remus asks. “We kill the closest thing to her. Her own son, and our brother.” “But first, we have to get out of here.” The Story of Venus and Mars During Venus and Mars childhood, they were always smitten with each other. When they grew up, they decided to have kids. Their first kids were Remus, Romulus, and Aeneas. At first, the kids got along well, but Romulus and Remus excluded Aeneas a lot. After a while, Romulus and Remus decided to bully him. Mars liked them doing that, since he is the god of war. Aeneas and Venus hated that, and Venus took Aeneas away from Mars and his brothers. Romulus and Remus found out that they had to speak to Pluto, who knew the ins and outs of the Underworld. When they got there, Pluto was upset to see them, since they were sons of Mars. Mars has done bad things that upset Pluto, and in their eyes, Pluto knew they knew what they had done. The Story of Pluto and Mars One day, Pluto was taking his nephew Baby Mars for a walk in the forest. Pluto loved his nephew, and saw great potential in his fighting. He knew he would be the god of war one day. The bad part was, he could not control himself. While they were walking (Mars sprinting) they came across the River Styx. Pluto, wanted to train Mars and asked if he wanted to spar. Of course, Mars said yes and started first with a flying roundhouse kick in Pluto’s stomach. Pluto flew into the water. Startled, he tried to get up, but the river was too strong for him. He was taken away by the current down into the underworld. That is why Pluto hates Mars. Romulus and Remus asked Pluto how to get out of the Underworld. They asked him if they could get revenge on their brother, Aeneas. Pluto was about to say no, but then realized he could make this journey for them very hard. Then, he would help Aeneas fight Romulus, Remus, and his sicko nephew Mars. “Yes,” Pluto said dubiously. “Thank you, Lord Pluto.” Remus said. “Could you tell us how to get there?” “Very well.” He told them that they should head east on the Lava River until they get to the Gate Of Horns. Pluto said that because the Gate Of Horns is an easy way out for people in the past. So, that means that it will be very tough for them to get through that passage and out into the real world. When Romulus and Remus left, Pluto sent an Iris message to the god of love. He told her that her sons were planning an attack on their brother. Back at Alba Longa, a pretty woman shows up at Aeneas’s palace. A slave opens the door. The woman says in a very beautiful way to get weapons and to bring them to Aeneas. The slave was startled at first, and then obeyed by saying, “I will get the weapons and bring them to Aeneas.” “And tell him that his brothers are coming for him.” “I will tell him that his brothers are coming for him.” When Romulus and Remus walked through the gate, they were very excited. They explained how fun it was going to be fun to finish him off. But first, they had to deal with the first challenge out of two very hard challenges that will lead them out of the Underworld. Standing in front of them was Polyphemus. Romulus and Remus were very startled, but figured out they had to fight this man in order to escape the underworld. After a long battle, they decided that it was a good idea to hit his eye so that he would go blind. They were successful, but Remus had many

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ wounds. After about a mile of walking, they came upon a very colorful door. They figured it would lead them out of the Underworld. But, the great Circe rose from the ground. “I love men.” She said. Romulus was about run, and Remus also was if he had the strength. But, they had to get out of there if they wanted to beat their brother and show pride for that land. Once they defeat Aeneas, they will make Alba Longa into a great empire! “Would you like to sit and have a drink,” she asked. Remus was clutch and said, “Yes.” When Circe went to grab a wine bottle, Remus grabbed another one of the bottles and put the liquid poison from the Underworld. Then, Remus asked if she wanted his wine. Gullible, she said yes and was poisoned. Romulus and Remus were elated when they opened the door to the real world. But, an unexpected visitor was awaiting them. To be continued ..

The Aeneid Final Chapter Alex Soderling Aeneas holds his sword up with pride. Turnus lies on the ground with blood streaming from his mouth and eyes. That was the end of the battle and the great Aeneas has won again. His eyes light up as he looks down at Turnus, a slight guilt crosses him, but he knows someone had to win the battle and he is happy that it was he. King Latinus looks at Aeneas and he is so excited about Aeneas winning the battle. And now they walk back to the castle to have a feast to celebrate. As they are eating, Aeneas looks at Lavinia. She looks back at him but quickly looks away. Aeneas is confused at first but he knows that they are soon going to get married. After the meal was over, Aeneas went to his room to get some sleep. Aeneas looks out the window. Rain is crashing down outside and he looks at all the dead bodies and all the blood washing through the field. Aeneas sees a horse lying on the ground and a weird feeling comes to him because this is not what he likes to see but then again it had to happen. The next morning when he wakes up he walks outside to get some air. When suddenly he hears voices in his head. He stops and looks around. He sees no one around and thinks it was just the wind or something. But then he hears it again. The person is saying something like “ I’m going to get you, Aeneas. You will pay for what you have done,” Aeneas stops to the sound of this. He does not know what to say or do. Aeneas hears these voices for weeks without knowing what or who is doing this. That night at dinner, Aeneas wants to sit with Lavinia at dinner because in a couple days they are going to get married. But when Aeneas is about to sit next to her she gets up and sits right next to Ascanius instead. Aeneas is now pretty concerned why she is always running away from him and never talking to him. Aeneas is actually getting a little worried about this but, he does not mention it. In the morning Aeneas wakes up and walks back outside to get some fresh air. Again he hears the voice. He tries to ignore it but today he feels like someone's following him. As he walks back, he sees someone in the corner of his eye. He turns around and they're gone. He thought he was getting a little delirious. It was the morning. But this time the person was standing right behind him and it wasn't one but two people. They were wearing black long flowing gowns with a dark knitted sweatshirt pulled over their head. “ Who are you and what are you doing?” Aeneas yells with a confused but at the same time scared voice. “We are Juno and Juturna and you killed my brother and now you are going to get a taste of your own medicine,” Juturna yells with fire in her voice. “ You will pay for what you did; we are coming for you,” And just like that Juturna and Juno are gone. What is Aeneas going to do first? He has Lavinia running away from him and now he has two goddesses after him. That night at dinner again, Aeneas tries to sit next to Lavinia and again she 73

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ moves next to Ascanius. But Aeneas has had enough of this. He gets up and says to Lavinia, “ Why do you never want to sit next to me or talk with me? It makes no sense,” Lavinia gets up and says, “ I can’t forgive you for what you did to Turnus. I shall marry Ascanius instead.” Aeneas did not argue with this, so Ascanius will marry Lavinia and Aeneas is happy for his son. That solves that problem but what about the goddesses that are after him? Aeneas does not know what to do. The next morning when he walks outside he is very cautious as he walks back to his house, he sees two people in black. Aeneas is now really scared; he does not know what to do as he looks back he sees another person who is this he looks closer. It's Venus! Aeneas walks up to them and says, “ What is happening?” “I have heard that these two were after you and I am here to bring peace.” Then she turns around and looks at the two goddesses and says, “ If I see you do one more thing I am going to tell Jupiter and you will get in a ton of trouble.” Both of them look down at their feet with a scared look in their faces and convince Aeneas that they will never bother him again. After a couple of bad and confusing experiences, they are now on track and ready to expand the city. Ascanius and Lavinia are getting married and no more gods will bother them again.

Making Peace with the Enemy Campbell Hawkins Many years after the death of Turnus, Aeneas and a small crew wanted to go back to Carthage. They got ready to sail. The winds were strong. A big wave was about to submerge their ship, and then it all calmed down. A big figure rose out of the sea, and then the whole crew realized that it was Neptune. He boomed,” Why do you cross my seas?” Aeneas replied,” We are going to Carthage to make peace with them.” “Ok, then I will give you calm seas and good winds to get there,” Neptune. They got on their way, and in a short time they arrived in Carthage. They went to the gate and requested to talk with the queen, the daughter of Dido. Her name was Carthaga. When they went in, Aeneas saw her. She was beautiful just like her mom. When he went to talk to her, Aeneas could tell she was mad. She boomed,”Aeneas, why do you come to my palace after what you have done to my mother?” Aeneas replied,” I have come to make peace with your country.” “There will never be peace with you. Guards, get them and crucify all of them.” she said. Aeneas grabbed his sword and struck down one guard. His whole crew followed him and the next thing you know it was fullout warfare. “Carthaga, I don't want to do this, please there must be another way!” Aeneas said. “There is no other way because you left my mom. She killed herself because of you. You deserve to be killed in the most gruesome way that is possible.” Then one of the guards grabbed one of Aeneas's men, and put him in a holding cell. Eventually the guards outnumbered them, one by one they were all captured. They were hung on the cross one by one. Slowly, Aeneas lost all his men. He was last. Carthaga ordered the guards to do it, and when they were hanging him, he kicked one guard in the face and knocked him out. The other guard grabbed his sword to strike down Aeneas, but he duked it, and kicked him in the gut and grabbed the sword, and killed the guard. He made his way to the ship, killing the guards one by one until he set sail back to Rome. The last sight he saw of Carthaga was her screaming, “NOOOOOOOOOOO!” and soon he was out of sight and back in Rome.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter: Peace After Honor Daniel Bittner How silent it was without all the hassle The land was at peace from war and fury The people were sad, yet thankful for an end That is except for Lavinia, who sat on her bed, She wept all her grieves for still she still did not know, of her hero's death So she cried for his safety, his mercy, and hospitality. And then there was a knock at the wooden front door When she realized his death from the figure right there she felt like a slump on a low, low hill It was Mercurii himself in no cloak or disguise who delivered the message to the last pair of eyes For when she found out, she let out a shriek And angrily spoke to the gods on the peak “For all the mayhem this man has brought me, let Aeneas never see another happy moment in his life.” As then she threw herself into the stream up ahead, and her body was never seen again. Mercurii then flew to a land far north where the king and queen of Latinus lounged When he told the two of those of her daughter's tragedy, they were sad and forgiving, but not one bit mad For they knew Aeneas’s venture, his hardships and promise, and they knew he could do nothing to stop him from his destiny So in a grieving, but appraising manner, she sent up a prayer just like her daughter “Let his land prosper and thrive and flourish, but let it be in my daughter's memory that it does” And just like that with a pull and a tug, both of them too, died like their daughter In the impluvium they went, never to be seen again Up in the clouds the gods looked below And felt sorry for everything that had happened so quickly That is except Juno and Juturna They still sought revenge after the shot in Aeneas’s thigh So once Lavinia cursed Aeneas despite Jupiter’s warning, they immediately accepted However that still didn’t satisfy They were thirsty for more So they made up a plan and went down to Earth Down back at the mortals, Aeneas laid down For the curse suddenly worked and now Aeneas was ill While on his bed two Harpies came down Which were really gods in disguise “My look oh look, don’t you see all this grieving, you’ll never find home unless you start leaving” Then they flew away, grinning at each other, before Aeneas had a chance to ask them a question However waiting for them high on Mt. Olympus Was Jupiter himself with rage and anger “How dare you defy me not once but twice, so now for two days you shall not be able to mess with the mortals” He then locked them in a room, dark and scary Where they could not escape, nor look down at the mortals Then Jupiter had to stop Aeneas from listening to the prophecy, so he sent him a dream that warned him When Aeneas saw it, there was no doubt of the message 75

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ He wiped away any thoughts he had about leaving this land However from the moment Aeneas woke up, he felt even more sick than the day before So he took a long walk to the woods And quietly but peacefully looked back on his life He walked for miles going deeper and deeper For he knew he would never again come out Until he saw an old man lying on his side while holding his hands Although this man looked tired and sad for some reason Aeneas found light in the dark shadows of the woods He saw much wisdom, care, and thought so he told the man what he never would have expected “You, my mighty old friend, in all your honor and glory shall be the one that takes care of the two who found this beautiful empire” Saying so while remembering the two boys in the Underworld Then Aeneas knew his time was over, his string was held and ready to be cut So he looked down and remembered his father And looked up and thanked the gods Then he knelt down and layed on his side And in all his honor he prepared as all heroes must, to die However what he didn’t know was that high on Mt. Olympus Was Jupiter himself watching this noble act And in response he sent down a bolt of lightning that struck right next to his body The bolt picked up his soul before it could go under the crust And brought it to the gods where all true heroes must go And then in all his honor, Venus made a constellation that will always remember him But back down at Earth, in shock at what had happened The old man looked as the fog cleared out To see what only he would ever see That there in that exact spot, a she wolf lie curled up in a ball

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Journey of Aeneas Ryan Gallant After Aeneas kills Turnus, he and the remaining men return to Troy and find a group of people who survived the war. There weren’t enough men so he sailed to Sardinia and asked if they had troops who would be willing to go with Aeneas. They were willing to give up 15 men. Aeneus now has 250 men. He traveled to a couple of other places and picked up some more men. So now he was set with 300 men. Aeneas decided to return to Sicily with his improved army and start a new life. They set off on their journey to Sicily. Halfway into their trip Aeneas remembered that the Sirens’ island was around here. He remembered that if they hear the singing, they will crash on the shore. So he ordered the 275 men that were awake to block their ears so they wouldn’t be able to hear the singing. Aeneas was assuming that the men who were sleeping would not hear the singing. When the boats passed, the men woke up and swam toward the singing. Aeneas couldn’t do anything about it so they kept sailing. When they were almost there, they realized they had no weapons so they stopped to figure it out. While they’re figuring it out, they didn’t realize that the waves were pushing them back. When they realized that, Mars had brought them weapons. So they got back on track and headed for Sicily again. When they got there, they decided to rest for a little while after the long journey. When they were done resting, they went to search the island for other people. They discovered another army that was looking to settle in on the island. Aeneas tried to make a compromise and settle on the island together. The other general said no. He wanted to fight for the island. Aeneas noticed that they had the same amount of men as them. The war didn’t take long because Aeneas was down to 50 men quickly. Aeneas called a retreat and they left to find another homeland. During their journey, Romulus and Remus were fighting over who would be founder of Rome. Eventually Romulus won and became the founder of Rome. Aeneas landed in Rome and met Romulus. Aeneas asked if they could stay here. Romulus let them stay and they got a lot of land. The city was named Rome. Aeneas, who at first were the Trojans, are now part of the Roman empire.

Revenge Nate Krawshuk After Aeneas killed Turnus, he lived a great life in Lavinium. He was eating the best food, playing with his son, Iulus, and relaxing in his grand city. He was being a great leader, and every person in Lavinium adored him. He was living the greatest life there was, and there was only one person who didn’t like that. Her name was Juno, the queen of the gods. She didn’t like Aeneas, and she was out to get her revenge. She was thinking really hard about how to kill Aeneas, and she had no great ideas. She even asked Juturna for advice, and Juturna accepted to help Juno because Aeneas killed her brother, Turnus. Juno and Juturna thought for three days until they came to their senses about how to kill Aeneas. They realized that Aeneas’ army was too strong, so they had to find an idea to kill him when he was alone. After another day of thinking, Juno came up with an idea. The Goddesses would tell Aeneas that there was a great battle at the Coliseum and Aeneas will get to go through the battle ground because he was leader of Lavinium. The doors will be locked, so Juno will have to go around and get into the Coliseum the other way. Juno will open the door but not show her body because she would have a knife in her hand. Aeneas will go in but not Juturna, who will shut the door after he goes in so he can’t get out. Then Juno will pin Aeneas to the wall and stab him. All the Goddesses have to do is make that great plan happen! 77

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Without telling any other gods, Juno and Juturna went to Aeneas’ house to initiate their plan. Juno did all of the talking, because she has the closer connection with Aeneas. “Quick, Aeneas!” Juno yelled. “We have to go to the Coliseum for a gladiator battle and you get to go through the main door because you are the leader of Lavinium.” “Okay, then let's go!” Aeneas said, and then they walked to the Coliseum. When they got to the Coliseum, Juno said, “Oh, it’s locked. Let me go around and open it for you.” Before Juno went to the back door, she winked at Juturna, and that got Aeneas’ attention. “Why did she just wink at you?” Aeneas asked Juturna. “We do that before we don’t see each other for some time.” Juturna replied, in a non confident manner. Just like they planned, when Juno opened the door she didn’t show her body because she had the knife she got from the back door in her hand. Aeneas went through the door and Juturna shut it behind him very quickly so he couldn’t escape. Aeneas was stabbed by Juno before he could ask why Juturna shut the door that quickly. Juno opened the front door for Juturna, and then they celebrated inside the Coliseum. They hugged, shouted, and Juturna cried of happiness that she was a part of the killing of the man who killed her brother. Then they decided to drag Aeneas’ dead body around the city seven times to celebrate the death. Many people saw this, but the most important people to see this were Neptune and Venus. Neptune and Venus were very angry at what had happened to Aeneas by Juno and Juturna, so they teamed up to try and get an idea how to kill Juno and Juturna. Venus had many ideas from the start but none of them were good enough to defeat the two goddesses. After thinking for about eight hours, Venus and Neptune finally had a good idea. Aeneas had a really strong army, so Neptune and Venus would take Aeneas’ army and challenge Juno and Juturna to war. Neptune came up with that idea after proving to Venus that was the smartest way to try and defeat the two goddesses. “For killing Aeneas, we challenge you two to war!” Neptune exclaimed. “Bring it on, Neptune, we are not scared of the God of the sea.” Juturna said. “Oh yeah, we get Aeneas’ army,” Neptune said. “See you on the battlefield!” The battle was breathtaking. Venus and Neptune jumped out to an early lead but Juno and Juturna brought it back even very quickly. Then a big part of the battle happened. Neptune killed Juturna by stabbing her in the leg. After that, it was a brutal end for Juno. She was attacked by both gods and five other army members. The battle had ended, and it was Venus and Neptune who were victorious. Aeneas was very happy when he saw Venus and Neptune defeat the two who killed him. Aeneas felt like he had to tell them in some way, and Aeneas made it happen. He came back from the Underworld and surprised Venus and Neptune. “Hello there,” Aeneas said. “I have returned from the Underworld and plan to stay. Venus will join me and we will rule Lavinium together. Neptune will return to his ocean and will see a great place for you and it will be called Atlantis. Lulus will be the leader after Venus and me.” Lavinium was very successful after Aeneas and Venus returned. Lulus was very happy to be the next leader and Neptune was living very happily in Atlantis.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter 5Ie Aeneid Thomas Romney Turnus was dead. Then, all of a sudden, there was a huge crash. The sky turned black. Thunder roared through the sky. Day was turned to night. A flash of lightning struck the ground near Aeneas. When the mist cleared, there stood Juturna. She wore the armour of Turnus. She held a flaming sword. She advanced on Aeneas with great speed. Aeneas, weak and tired, was sure to die. He called upon all of his strength and let out a call to his mother, Venus. He fell to the ground. The last thing he saw was a flash of light and Juturna withdrawing to the heavens. He woke up in an infirmary with two figures standing over him. Once he was adjusted to the light, he recognized Lavinia and Venus. "What happened?" he moaned. "I heard your call for help, right as Juturna was preparing to strike you," Venus replied. "I banished her to the skies. She will never bother us again." "I'm glad that foul creature is gone," Aeneas said. When Aeneas was fully recovered from his awful fight, his wedding was arranged. It took place on a beautiful spring morning. People from near and far came to see the wedding. It was the happiest day of the entire year. Celebrations lasted the entire day and went far into the night. King Latinus held the largest celebration. There was food and drink and everyone was happy, especially Aeneas and Lavinia. They founded the city of Lavinium. All happened as was predicted. Rome became the greatest nation on earth and ruled with power. The first emperor, Augustus began a line of great emperors, and Rome dominated the earth.

The Final Chapter: The Rise of Turnus Charlie Lavallee Aeneas was just celebrating the defeat of Turnus and thinking about building his new city. Everything was going well for him. He was living with his new wife, Lavinia. They were wandering the countryside one beautiful day when one of Aeneas’ messengers informed him there was a disturbance in the city. Aeneas and Lavinia ran back to see the Trojan army in battle against an unknown force. When Aeneas reached the field, his general told him that Turnus had risen from the dead. Little did they know that Juno has taken hold of Turnus’ body and was trying to seek her revenge on the Trojans. Aeneas ran to his house just outside the city and put on his armor and prayed to Venus for strength. He grabbed his sword and rushed to evacuate the city. He told all the people to go south of Turins and head to the closest village. He said he would gather them if he defeated Turnus. He was stopped by an old man dressed in rags who told him to come in. Aeneas said he had to leave but the man insisted. He went inside the man's house; it reeked of fish and raw meat. The man told him he was a fortune teller. The man was Apollo in disguise and he wanted to help Aenais defeat Turnus because he has always sided with the Trojans. He even had helped guide the arrow to kill Achilles. He told Aeneas he had to go to the Underworld and convince Pluto to free Pallas just for a moment. Pluto asked for something in return. Aeneas offered his alliance with the god and Pluto accepted. Aeneas told Pallas what the old man told him; Turnus’ weakness is his thigh but only another undead can stop him. Aeneas journeyed back to the Earth to see Pallas rise from the Earth behind Turnus. He hit him twice in the thigh with an arrow. Aeneas watched with pride as the monster that was once Turnus fell back through the Earth into the Underworld. Aeneas and his men all ran to check if Turnus was gone. When they knew he was dead, they burned his body and had a grand party. Everyone in the city was told to come back and celebrate. Everyone partied for one week, like they did in Troy, until they began to build their new city and plan for the future. 79

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter: Before Rome Rhodes MacDuffie Martinez Aeneas stood on the beach of Latium, looking down at the lifeless body of Turnus, the prince of the Rutulians. Slowly, Aeneas pulled his sword from the chest of Turnus and wiped the blood from it. He picked up Turnus and threw his lifeless body into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea. As the body sank, Neptune saw his body and snatched it, and pulled him down to the lowest place in the sea. With seaweed and boulders, Neptune locked Turnus to the bottom of the sea to wither away. Lavinia saw this from her window and ran down to banish Aeneas from her land. Just as she reached him, Venus commanded Cupid to shoot an arrow of love at Lavinia. Lavinia’s hatred melted away and was forgotten as the arrow began its effect. Aeneas, seeing that Lavinia had fallen in love with him, asked her to marry him; and she said yes. Juturna, seeing this engagement, traveled as fast as she could to the underworld to tell Turnus of the marriage. Turnus became infuriated and called up his fallen troops of the dead to march out of the Underworld to fight Aeneas. Meanwhile, Aeneas and Lavinia were standing on a tall hill, waiting to be wed, when a cry rung out. Aeneas turned and saw in the distance a ghostly army floating across the ground, the blue sky darkening every inch as the ghosts grew closer. Suddenly they were moving at the speed of Mercury, coming straight at Aeneas! The undead army stopped just yards from Aeneas. From the middle of the army emerged the ghost of Turnus, slowly drawing closer to Aeneas. Aeneas drew his sword and tried to strike Turnus down, but his sword just went right through him, like he wasn’t there at all. However, Turnus, not being able to hurt Aeneas physically, dove towards Aeneas and attacked his soul. Turnus tortured Aeneas’s body to the point that Aeneas drew his sword and buried it deep within his heart. Aeneas’s soul left his body and rose up to the heavens as Turnus and his army sank back down to the Underworld, satisfied that they killed Aeneas; but Turnus made a bad mistake by not eliminating Ascanius.This was Aeneas’s son, who still would have grandchildren, Romulus and Remus, who would found the great city of Rome. From Romulus would come a long period of great rulers of Rome such as the great Caesar, and later the even greater Augustus who would rule over the great city.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter: The Founding of Troy 2.0 Peter Visco The story continues at the battlefield where Turnus is going to the Underworld. Aeneas grabs the belt of Pallas and the rest of Turnus’ spoils. When Aeneas returns to the camp, the men find out and are extremely happy and congratulate his victory. The next day Aeneas goes to his castle and finds Lavinia. He says Turnus is dead and he lies to her. He says Turnus jumped into the sea and told him that he shall be your husband. As a result of this, Lavina tells Aeneas that she shall get married the next week and has a big feast. As the years went on, Aeneas moves to where Rome would eventually be built. He lived next to a stream where he formed a city of 500,000 people all working in harmony because of the peace treaty with Turnus. Many Trojans from Aeneas’s journeys came with him who supported the Trojans’ way of life. Five years later it was Aeneas birthday and he was turning 80! His last wish was to have a MEGA city with millions of residents. Aeneas received a Shewolf which would take care of him. Later that day, Lavina died and all Aeneas had left was his Shewolf. One hundred years later, Aeneas went to the river and suddenly he spotted a basket! Then he heard screams until suddenly the wolf jumped in and grabbed the basket. When the wolf came ashore there were two boys. Aeneas said, “Why are there helpless babies in the river?” Then Aeneas said to the Shewolf “Go take the baby boys and raise them!” Cupid came down and shot the Shewolf with the arrow of love and which went toward Aeneas immediately. The babies were left to die and Aeneas did not know that those two babies would be the founders of Rome. But Romulus somehow did not die and was not seen again. The next day Aeneas told all of his workers to start building the MEGA City of the Great City Of Troy 2.0. It took 20 years to build the city and to bring people in by battling other kingdoms. But suddenly Troy 2.0 fell after all the hard work because Aeneas had too much Pride. It was too overwhelming and he could not handle it! 10 years later Romulus built a huge city on the ruins of the MEGA City of the Great City of Troy 2.0!

Final Chapter: Redemption Disaster Chris Weitzel Three months later, Juno visits the Underworld. She talks to Turnus and tells him that he needs to get the Latins back on his side. Thus she snatches his soul. Juno reincarnated Turnus, 500 yards away from Alba Longa. She gives him his battle armor and a charote. Juno pumped up Turnus. Venus saw what Juno was doing and summoned a beautiful girl and asked Cupid to shoot Turnus with a love arrow and the girl a disgust arrow. Cupid made sure that Turnus fell in love with this woman and that she disliked him a lot. Juno saw what Cupid and Venus did and she yelled with a horrid voice directed at Cupid. She tried to reverse what happened to Turnus. Juno tried to think of different ways to kill the girl, named Shaniqua, with whom Turnus was in love. Eris looked down on all of the chaos and smiled. Venus, disguised as one of Aeneas's soldiers, showed him that Turnus was still alive. Aeneas drew his sword and charged with a surge of anger. Aeneas tore the sword through the air. The strike was directed at his nemesis. Turnus caught sight of him and, with a swift movement, dodged Aeneas’s strike. Turnus grabbed his sword and with a sound of metal on metal, his weapon slid out of its place. The two heroes dodged, blocked, and parried each other’s attacks. Suddenly, Turnus saw his love, and stopped fighting. Aeneas was quick and stabbed his sword where he once impaled him with his spear. Turnus fell to the ground and looked Aeneas in the eyes and begged him for mercy. Aeneas looked at him once more and saw the belt of his general, named T'Challa. His face got red hot and raised his sword once more and brought it down with the force of 100 men. Turnus fell lifeless and his limbs went slack, and that was the end of Turnus. 81

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Final Chapter Quinn Mullaney Just after the wedding of Aeneas and Lavinia, Lavinia was kidnapped. Aeneas was in the next room when he heard the glass shatter. Aeneas ran into Lavinia's room with his spear in hand just in time to see red hair running down the stairs. Juturna, Aeneas muttered, She must have kidnapped Lavinia ! Aeneas ran down the stairs and started shouting QUICKLY CALL THE GUARDS! LAVINIA HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED!!!! He quickly ran after Juturna who was climbing into a boat. Stop where you are Juturna or I will have my men rain a thousand arrows on to you!” Juturna replied, “I am Immortal you would only kill you wife”. Aeneas realized that Juturna was right. She was Immortal. Juturna was sailing away when suddenly a storm came out of nowhere picking up the boat and throwing it into the sky. What Aeneas said how is that even possible? Aeneas asked the approaching guards to ready his boat and his finest soldiers. “We must go on a journey to find my wife!” The journey started slow and it seemed that the gods were against Aeneas. But as soon as they were in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, the ship went into some fog. Aeneas suddenly felt sleepy suddenly all of his crew members fell to the floor. When Aeneas woke he was in some kind of cave. He sat up with a massive headache. There seemed to be a commotion outside of the cave. On the floor sat a bloody log. Aeneas was soon trampled by a flock of sheep. What is going on he wondered? He got up and walked to the entrance of the cave. In the distance he heard someone shouting “My name is ODYSSEUS!” Aeneas walked back into the cave only to step on something crunchy. When Aeneas looked down he saw a skeleton. He screamed “AHHHH!!!” and started running out of the cave to find his boat. He was walking over a hill when he heard it. A thumping sound coming his way! He dived behind a rock and waited. A huge shadow loomed over Aeneas. When Aeneas looked up he saw a horrible creature! The creature was 25 feet tall and had one eye. The monster's eye seemed to be bleeding? Aeneas yelled once again “AHHHHH!!!”. The monster looked right at Aeneas and said FIE FI FO SOME THINGS NEAR MY TOE AND SOMETHING TELLS ME IT'S A FOE. “Wait!” shouted Aeneas but the monster tried to grab him but missed hitting him into a large rock. When Aeneas woke he was back in his ship. Aeneas got up and saw that his other crew members were waking up too. Well, that was weird. All of a sudden something fell out of the sky and landed in the water. When the water came down it was Juturna! Where is my wife when all of a sudden a bolt of lightning struck the boat! A sack landed at Aeneas's feet when suddenly he heard a voice. It is me Jupiter. I am honored to save your wife and present to you this gift. All of a sudden a baby wolf landed on the boat. Aeneas gave thanks to Jupiter. When Aeneas opened up the sack, his wife popped out. “Sorry about Juturna,” Jupiter said, “Juno hypnotized her.” Aeneas sailed home with his dog which he named Lupa and lived happily ever after.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Greeks Return Max Hall It was two months after the Trojans had won the war. They saw no immediate threat, and because of that were just chilling on the beach, instead of training for battle. Aeneas loved Italia. Since they have been here, they haven't had to fight at all. They didn’t even have to train. Everyone was happy. Everyone except for Mars. Mars loved it when people fought, and now they weren't even training. He wasn’t going to let this last. First he made the tribes around Italia attack the Trojans. The next day, there were no more tribes. They all lost horribly to the Trojans. This infuriated Mars. How could an army that hasn’t trained for 2 months still wipe out all of the tribes in Italia? There was just one option left. Marcus, a Trojan soldier, was out on his boat cruising around Italy. When all of a sudden, he saw an all too familiar sight. Greek ships! He immediately set sail back home, frightened by the sight of invaders. His boat skid up onto the sand, he jumped off and ran across the shore. “The Greeks are coming! The Greeks are coming!” The entire city jumped into high gear. Everyone was preparing for battle. Armor clanking, weapons sharpening, you couldn’t even tell that they hadn’t been training. They could see the ships coming over the horizon and were ready for battle! They climbed onto the ships and set sail. It took an hour to get to the Greek ships, but by the time that they got there, they were ready. They went up next to the Greek ship and started throwing spears. The Greeks were throwing twice as many spears, but the Trojans just blocked them and kept throwing. Eventually, the Greek spear throwers were wiped out and the Trojans could board their ship. They immediately took control of the ships and the Greek fleet was now theirs. But Mars still wasn’t happy. They didn’t have a war! They didn’t even have a fight! All it was is the Trojans wiping out the Greeks! But Mars wasn’t going to give up. He had one last trick up his sleeve, and to beat this force, it would require to defy logic. It was the next day. The Trojans had just added twelve new boats to their fleet and were celebrating. When all of a sudden, they heard singing. They immediately stopped what they were doing and just stared into the sky. It was Sirens! They tried to move but they weren't able. Days went by and they were still frozen. Then, the Greeks came. It was just one boat, but with the Trojans frozen still, they didn’t need any more people. Then, with all of his might, Aeneas broke free of the Sirens’ trance. He ran over to the Greeks and single handedly took them all out! He jumped up to the Sirens, tied them up and sent them back to Mars. The city was saved, and they could finally rest.

Final Chapter ..The Return of Eris Tommy Reynolds Forty years later, Aeneas is too old and too weak to rule his country, so he decides to give his throne to his son, Iulus. So, Ascanius goes about trying to find himself the finest queen of the land. Meanwhile Juno is still searching for a way to get back at Aeneas. So she goes to the Greeks and tells them her plan. She searches through the crowd for the most wonderful woman to be Ascanius’ wife. Eventually she stumbles across Nicola, a housewife she thought would be perfect for the job. So she convinces the Greeks to let her borrow Nicola, and trick Iulus into being her wife. Because Juno and Cupid are still allies, Juno has Cupid shoot an arrow right into Ascanius’ thigh, while they are engrossed in conversation. Instantly Ascanius becomes in love, and they plan a wedding for the following week. Aeneas however does not like Nicola. He decides that if anyone were to marry his son, it should be someone that he knew well, and trusted to be son’s 83

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ wife. But, Ascanius loved her so much he insisted on marrying her over and over until he finally gave in, and allowed them to marry. It was a beautiful summer day for a wedding. The sun was bright. The birds were chirping, and everything was going perfectly. They had built up huge walls around the city to keep out intruders, but today Nicola insists on opening the gates so they can parade around the great city they had built. The real reason she did this though is to allow the Greeks to sneak into the city while they were doing the whole parade thing. Little did any of the Trojans know that while this was happening the Greeks, under the lead of Juno, snuck onto the land, and prepared to charge through the gates and seize the city. Eris was watching the whole thing. She was one of the only gods who hadn’t picked a side of this war. She had always had a thing for the Trojans, because she felt bad for them when their whole city got destroyed. So this time she really didn’t want them to be destroyed again, so she hopped on their side. Eris, being the goddess of disorder and chaos, decides to do something sneaky. While the family is undergoing the ceremony, a golden apple, sitting on the table starts shaking. That is when letter by letter the words start appearing. “They Come when you least expect it.” Everyone takes their time examining it, wondering where it came from. However when Aeneas looks at the apple little words appears right below the original message. They read: “The Greeks.” Immediately he rises from the table, grabs Ascanius, and rushes him into the castle. Meanwhile Eris had other things to do. She had just realized that the whole reason Juno was with the Greeks, is she was still mad at Venus for being the “Fairest” one. So she knew what she had to do. She flew over to Juno, who at the time was sitting on a large stone twiddling with a stick. Eris was nervous, but she knew what she had to do. She told her about the whole thing with the apple being tossed, and Paris picking the “Fairest” goddess. She said she had done this because she was mad that she wasn’t invited to the wedding. She even told her if she had to choose the “fairest” goddess, it would be her. This shocked Juno. It was then when she realized why she had been involved with this war in the first place, why she had gone through all of this trouble. That is when she looked up at Eris and laughed. She couldn’t believe that the whole time it was just a stupid golden apple that started all of this. This is when she told Eris that she didn’t care any longer for the Greeks, and flew away. Ascanius is confused. He kept asking his dad what was going on and why was he doing this. This is when Aeneas told his son what he had seen on the apple. Ascanius still doesn’t understand. But why would the Greeks attack now? I thought we had made peace with them. But moments later hundreds of soldiers started charging in through the gates. Grab your swords, and grab your spears! The soldiers rushed out of the castle, and the people fled back in. With Eris on their side, the Trojans were able to fight back just as well as they ever had. Inside the castle, Ascanius really wants to go out and fight, but Aeneas won’t budge. He says that he way is too valuable, and he must stay alive. After hours of clashing swords, and banging shields, the war had finally come to a cease. The Trojans had won the battle.

Albemarle Grade 6 Latin 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Final Chapter: Peace Together Peyton Rose When Turnus is knocked down with the spear for the last time, the Latin army tries to fight back against the Trojan army. They fight long and hard, but they are so unorganized, that they have to surrender or else they will all die. They surrender, and because of King Latinus’ peace treaty, the Trojans then created an army that is both made of both Latins and Trojans. The Trojans enforce the peace treaty and everyone is created equal. The cities have both Trojans and Latins. King Latinus hires some Trojans to work in his kingdom to prove that everyone is created equal. The people are happy about what has happened, and they don’t want anything to change. Aeneas is happy because there is peace and he marries Lavinia. King Latinus is happy because he knows that his lands will prosper because Lavina married a foreigner, Aeneas, fulfilling his prophecy. Even though Lavinia’s true love was Turnus, she is happy with Aeneas, and because of this marriage, it helps to seal the peace treaty between the two peoples. Meanwhile, Juturna, who is Turnus’s sister, is angry about Aeneas killing Turnus. She brings back Turnus from the Underworld, and Turnus wants to take Lavina back from Aeneas. This is also the same with Achilles, who was angry that his girl was taken from him. Turnus asks for all of the Latins to come and fight with, against Aeneas. Aeneas doesn’t want this to happen, because he doesn’t want other people to die just because of bad blood between Aeneas and Turnus. Aeneas says to Turnus that they should fight it out alone. Turnus wants fight it out with armies, because Turnus knows that Aeneas will win if they fight alone. Eventually Turnus gives in, because he knows that if he dies, he wants the Trojans and the Latins to get along. If the two armies had fought it out, the two races might have ended up angry and the peace treaty would be broken. Aeneas and Turnus face off in a sword fight. Even though Turnus knows that he will lose, he is fighting really really hard. Still, he is losing to Aeneas. Aeneas finishes Turnus, and Aeneas is victorious once again. Jupiter is happy that the Trojans and Latins can now be one group of people. Juturna is not, because Turnus is dead again. The Aeneid: The End PJ O’Rourke As Turnus's body was struck dead and his soul was pulled to the underworld, Aeneas had realized that he was soon to become the king of the Latins. As the Trojans headed back to camp victorious, Neptune created a tsunami that destroyed the Trojans’ camp. As the men rushed back to the city, the walls were knocked down into smithereens. They had no choice but to go into the tribal territory and as they sprinted in, they realized that the only place to go was up a mountain. The tribes have gotten to a safe point and the Latins and the Trojans fought the tribes for the land. On the other side of the Mediterranean Sea, Odysseus's men opened up the bag of wind and blew wind everywhere and sped up the water, plus Pluto was on the tribe's side and and sucked men into the Underworld. As the people died, the tribes seemed as strong as ever. Venus and Jupiter saw this and made the men stronger. They teleported some people to the other side of the mountain. As the men closed into the tribes, the tsunami closed in. The men went higher and higher up the mountain until the tribe was up high enough so the kingdom and Trojans could hide from them and wait the tsunami off. As the tsunami ended, the people bonded and the Latins began to understand and feel empathy for the Trojans because of the journey they had to endure. In the later years, after Ascanius’ grandsons, Romulus and Remus, have been sent off into a far away place as they grew up, they started to build a great city. As they grew older and older, there was a tension that grew and then tension grew too much to handle. Suddenly BOOM! Remus's body was struck down to the ground. His lifeless body was on the ground and the only person left was the founder of Rome, Romulus. 85

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Art by Emmanuel Aweke

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ How I Learn Best Duwon Lee “ Learning is never ending.” It is a lifelong process. My own learning has evolved since coming to a country where English is spoken. I learn new subjects from teachers in school and different sports from coaches in English. In addition, I learn important lessons and attitudes from my parents about English. I like to learn, and acquiring English is an important part of my life. In school, teachers will teach many subject areas and help students experience a great school year. Actually, I like almost every class, but I really like to s tudy English and history. It encourages me to concentrate more and to try to learn more. When I am learning subjects, I try to understand all the aspects of area of study. When I understand everything and learn new things, I feel like I am at my best. There are many different sports that appeal to me. It is always gratifying to try new sports. I have a passion for learning new sports or new skills from coaches. Also, if I do not play sports for a while, my personality changes. I think sports make me healthier and helps me concentrate when I am studying. Playing various types of sports is part of my daily routine. Furthermore, sports makes me happy. Lastly, I learned many things from my parents.They taught me about attitude and lessons that can help me in life, which I think is really crucial. The things that my parents have taught me are the lessons that we can’t learn outside of the home. I think these are the most important lessons to learn. In conclusion, everyone should learn throughout their entire life. Lifelong learning is important. There are so many things I want to explore. Much of what I have learned from my teachers, from my coaches, and from my parents can be applied to my life. My study habits and my knowledge will help me to be a better person and later in my profession. That is why I must and want to learn more. Sitting in this Chair Yusuke Abe During English class Ms.Coney, my teacher, gave the class an amusing dilemma. "Why are we sitting in this chair?" Now there are many ways to respond to this question. My thoughts were just about the class in general, but after listening to everyone's ideas, I found out some people made connections from their pasts and cultural experiences. After observing everyone's opinions I answered this question by saying, "I am sitting in this chair to be well educated and to have more experiences for my future." I have many reasons why I’m saying this but the most significant reason is because of school in general. I think school is a place to learn how to be critical thinkers, experience hardships, and most of all to have fun for the future. All these pieces of information are important for our life. In school, we experience small dilemmas and hardships that prepare us for our future life interactions. Teachers help you practice how to solve these dilemmas and hardships. By practicing how to solve these problems with the teachers we prepare ourselves for our adulthood. Nevertheless, if we are not engaged in the life skills that teachers give us, we will take in nothing. That is why we need to have fun, while we do the work we are assigned. By this, our teacher takes us steps closer to having a successful life. To conclude, the question that my teacher posed stretched my thoughts about “how and why I am here”. This dilemma made me more thankful towards everyone who is assisting me throughout my life here. For this reason, I am very thankful that my parents made it possible for me to go to the Fessenden School.

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Starbucks Observation Writing William Zhuang There is something really amazing and impressive about coffee: Even if you do not see a cup of coffee right in front of you, you will know for sure after you smell the unique aroma in the air. Oh, we are close to a coffee shop! In my opinion, Starbucks is always extremely busy and outwardly energetic. The people inside all have different duties and jobs to take care of. From the people who are working on different machines to create mouthwatering drinks for others, to the people sitting on the side calling their family, they are all on the same stage, dealing with a common purpose. But what is really special and remarkable is that, it actually brings people together! People actually meet and communicate with different people they knew before or even someone they just met a minute ago. All you have to do is buy a drink, find a seat, greet the people around you, and enjoy the leisure time you have there. At that moment, I could feel a sense of belonging. No matter what terrible things occurred prior to their arrival, many people are still trying to make their lives an enjoying and loving one. I sat down in a chair with my caramel frappucino. The drink itself did not look so bright and shiny, but the whipped cream on top was definitely smooth. It brings the drink to a higher level, not only from the taste, but from an aesthetic point of view. In my opinion, this experience through the senses informs me that the appearance of the food can also affect people’s interest and my writing. My Story Jangmin Song About Me Hi! My name is Jangmin Song. I am 14 years old. I am in the 7th grade. My favorite season is winter, because, I hate hot temperatures. My favorite sports are soccer and tennis. I played soccer for many years. Next year, I want to try out for the Varsity Soccer team. I started playing tennis in March of 2015. So, I am still an intermediate player. By the way, I am from Japan. But, if you are familiar with Japanese sounding names, you will think it is strange that I have a Korean name. Then, you are right. Yeah, I am Korean, too. It all started with my grandfather. My grandfather was born on Jeju Island, Korea in 1927. But, during World War 2, Japan colonized Korea. The Japan government officials took my grandfather to Japan to make weapons for war. Because of that, there are 60 million Korean people living in Japan, and my grandfather married my grandmother, who is also Korean, then my father was born. He married my mother, and then I was born. That is why I grew up there. I went to a Korean school, where I made many friends. However, I am enjoying my new Fessy life. Now, I will write about my family About My Family There are four members in my family, my father, mother, and sister. My father likes playing soccer. He always plays with me even if he is tired. He is a very kind and patient father, but sometimes he is strict. My mother is a housewife. She likes providing delicious meals for our family. She also helps me whenever I need her. For example, packing my luggage and cleaning my room. My sister is 8 years old. She is going to elementary school. She loves dancing, playing sports, and being with her family. Last year, she started to learn how to ski. I love my family, even though, I am studying in the U.S.

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Salem Witch Trials: The Controversial History Kamran Bina The Salem Witch Trials happened in 1692, and it was, and still is, one of the most controversial topics throughout American History. It has boggled Historians for years and there are numerous different accounts of the Witch Trials. That is one of the things that makes it so controversial. The Salem Witch Trials were the result of many secular factors: one such factor was the jealousy between the Neighbors of Salem Village and Town. Historians are very split about why and how The Salem Witch Trials started. Some say it was because of a rivalry, while others say it was due to Mass Hysteria. Regardless, one of the most important things about The Witch Trials is why it started. As many of the other topics related to The Salem Witch Trials, there are a lot of reasons, guesses, and theories as to why it started. Some of the biggest theories that seem plausible are a rivalry between towns, bored teenagers, and Mass Hysteria (Allard). Historians think that the Witch Trials could have been caused because some bored teenagers started accusing their neighbors. After people began thinking that the neighbors of the teenagers were witches whenever they saw something strange, the immediate thought that popped into their mind was “WITCHCRAFT!” That is another example of Mass Hysteria. There was a huge rivalry between Salem Town (rich) and Salem Village (poor); many of the poor folk were jealous, so they accused the rich. The rich people thought the poor lived strangely so they accused the poor (Miller) (Allard). The poor accused the rich because if anyone was performing witchcraft it had to be the rich since they were so mean. Once again, this is an example of Mass Hysteria and jealousy. While people don’t know exactly what caused people in Salem to think that Witchcraft was happening, there are many theories that people still contemplate. There are many reasons why people thought that Witchcraft was occurring, and why some knew there wasn’t, but said there was. A couple of those reasons are religion, Ergotism, and as stated before, Mass Hysteria. The most likely theory about why The Trials started was because of Ergotism. Ergotism is a disorder caused by eating old rye bread (Miller). The bottom line is that there were definitely some psychological problems going on. While there is no hard evidence that says Salem had stale bread, many of the effects caused by Ergotism would explain some of the events which took place in Salem. One of the components in Ergot is LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide). LSD is known to cause “vivid hallucinations” and that would explain some of the events in Salem. Another reason why the people thought that it was Witchcraft and not something else was Religion. One thing to remember is that these people were Puritans. Anything they didn’t understand they related to God and called them “signs of God” (Schanzer 15,16, 21, 22). One of the important people in the Witch Trials was Reverend Samuel Parris. His daughter, Betty, was one of the afflicted and accusers. He knew that something was coming because he had seen many “signs of God”. Some examples of these are Plague, Fires, Comets, Aurora Borealis, Earthquakes, and Droughts. He saw these as signs that God was sending. The only problem was that no one knew what they meant, not even the Reverend himself. He said these crazy events were witchcraft because only one source mentioned events like this, The Bible. In The Bible it is described as works of the Devil. Since The Trials are over we (the U.S.) have learned about many things that happened during the trials that were unfair. There are still many lingering effects of The Witch Trials, and some of them are still affecting us today. Nowadays we have a much better government structure then we did in 1692, so we know the flaws of the Witch Trials. The Trials were quite unfair and made it so easy to prosecute the defendants. Another aspect of the Witch Trials are the long lasting effects of The Trials. The Witch Trials were very unfair in many ways. The Trials heavily favored the accusers, the defendants weren’t allowed lawyers (Lather), and spectral evidence was allowed (Allard). Spectral Evidence

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ was a very unfair aspect that was allowed during The Salem Witch Trials. Spectral Evidence is claiming to have seen a spectre or ghost of the accused person/witch. The reason why Spectral Evidence is unfair is that somebody can just claim they saw a ghost and that is considered evidence. In this day and age we don’t accept evidence as something someone can just say. In today's Justice System we need more proof. Some other factors that made the trials unfair were that the accused didn’t have lawyers; some of the people had no legal documents (to document their trial), and finally the legal documents that do exist are very incomplete. The Salem Witch trials left lasting effects on society that are still present today (History), even though the trials ended and the Massachusetts colony passed legislation that cleared the "good" names and gave restoration (financially) to the family members and heirs. At the end of the Salem Witch Trials the Massachusetts government apologized about The Trials and said they were “unlawful and inhumane”. Finally when The Trials were over, Spectral Evidence was banned and deemed “illegal and unfair”. O ne example of the lingering effects would be the play "The Crucible" which is about the Salem Witch trials, and it captivated the horrors of the Trials. The Salem Witch Trials was and is one of the most controversial topics in American History. One reason that made it so controversial was due to the fact that it had many different parties involved in it. Some of the many sides include the Puritans, the accused, the accusers, and many others. While it may never be clear exactly what happened during The Salem Witch Trials, what is clear is that it began and was sustained for secular reasons.

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Wave Goodbye Emmanuel Aweke We arrive at the station pain and sorrow fills the air like the cloud of smoke and smog rising from the train. My sweet child looks around everything is dim and gray she doesn’t want me to go, yet to turn around now would be an act of shame. I give her a bird a bird of white to raise her spirits just so. To live a life without her shall be such sweet sorrow. I turn to my wife the beautiful maid the one whom I love the most I wish she could come, but yet she can’t until I make a home. I give her a kiss and wave good bye to now live a life alone.

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Revenge Cameron Gaisford Bob, three other Socs, and I were headed for the Greasers in the park. We were really mad that they picked up our girls. We wanted revenge. We were in Bob’s blue Mustang. I was in the front with Bob, while the other three were in the back. When we got to the park, it was desolate. We saw the two Greasers. I thought they were going to run for it. Pony was wearing a sleeveless white tshirt with jeans. Johnny had on a leather coat and black jeans. We had about a dozen beers before this and were pretty drunk. We started circling the park and blasted the horn. When we got close enough, we all got out of the car and started to close in on them. I told the three of them to cut off Johnny and Pony, making them easier targets. Before I could get my hands on Pony, Bob said, “Need a haircut, Grease?” “You know what a Greaser is? White trash with long greasy hair.” Pony yelled back, “You know what Socs are? White trash with madras and mustangs!” Then he spat at us. I wanted to punch him. I saw the fear on Johnny’s face when he saw Bob’s rings shine in the light. Bob had two MLB rings with diamonds in the middle, and six gold rings he got from his grandparents. I said, “ You like his rings, Grease? How ‘bout we give you an up close and personal look at ‘em?” With lightning speed, Bob and I grabbed Pony by his shirt and dragged him over to the fountain. I said, “ Struggling is useless, Grease!” He stopped moving almost instantly. Bob and I grabbed Pony’s skinny neck and dunked him in the freezing water. I screamed, “ You look like you need a bath, Grease! Here, why don’t you have one?” Then, without hesitation, Johnny ran up to Bob and sunk his switchblade into the meaty part of Bob’s neck. We stared in amazement before we ran to the car. I looked back and all I could see was a puddle starting to form next to Bob’s lifeless body. Starbucks Observational Writing David Jeong Today, we went to Starbuck’s and I ordered a drink called, Double Chocolate Frappuccino. While they were making my drink, I looked around the interior of the store. I saw a bunch of coffee and mugs, which they were selling. There were a lot of people working. In addition, I also smelled the coffee that they were grinding. Then, I started to hear the sound of a machine that made coffee. I also heard some music coming out from the speaker. On the counter, there were a bunch of cookies and pastries being displayed, and behind the counter, there were a few people who were working busily to make coffee for the consumers. Then an employee called my name, “David.” Then I walked up to the counter and brought my frappuccino to my table. The bottle was made of plastic, and it was really smooth and cold. It also had a Starbuck’s logo on it. Furthermore, it had the name of the consumer who bought it, me. When I first smelled it, it smelled like milk chocolate. In that first sip, I tasted the chocolate milk. I chewed the small pieces of chocolate and crushed ice with my teeth. I think it was a greatest experience for us to create descriptive writing in this setting.

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Meeting with the Socs: Johnny’s point of view Lawson Miller Dear Diary, Last night it was about 2:00 am, and I was just in the park, minding my own business, not bothering no one. The park was big, with a fountain in the middle, and an empty swimming pool. I suddenly saw Ponyboy. He was bawling harder than I ever seen. Ponyboy doesn’t cry too often. He’s tough. He told me exactly what happened, and how Darry hit him. I really feel for Ponyboy, sometimes Darry can be temperamental. I knew Ponyboy thought the same thing, but I ain't gonna tell him what I thought. That’s his brother. Ponyboy looked like he was about to freeze to death. At least I had my jean jacket. A few seconds later I forgot all about Ponyboy. I saw the tuff blue Mustang that the Socs drive in. I cussed under my breath, and just stared, as they got out of the car. I bet they were here because we picked up their girls. They were walking toward us, and the smell of liquor filled the air. Sure enough they were mad about their girls. “You know what a greaser is?” asked Bob, “White trash with long hair.” I gasped. I ain't usually this mad, but what Bob said hit me hard. “You know what a Soc is?” I could tell how mad Ponyboy was. I tried to give him a look, but he just said, ”White trash with Mustangs and madras.” They looked angry, but Ponyboy didn’t care, he just spit at them. Ponyboy can be real stupid sometimes. Bob shook his head, smiled and said, “You could use a bath greaser and a good working over. And we’ve got all night to do it.” Before I knew it they had grabbed Ponyboy and shoved his face in the fountain. I had never been so terrified. I tried to get them away from him, but they just shoved me away. I was helpless. While I was on the ground I put my hand in my pocket. I felt the six inch blade I carried around for occasions just like this. I wasn’t gonna sit there and watch Ponyboy dieπ. I took out my switch, and there was a rush of anger. Before I knew it Bob’s lifeless body was just lying there, bleeding. I dragged Ponyboy out of the fountain. When he woke up I said to him, “I killed him, I killed that boy.”

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Cranes Koller Phillips I look around and see blank faces no one talking Silence I just hear the water patter against the boat as we slowly made way with nothing but hope I see a mother grasping her baby not knowing what to do I felt like a needle in a haystack piled next to people I write in my journal about my travel the sleep the food and the gloomy mood I peel out a sheet and make an origami bird to take me away and get what I deserve I remember my daughter my wife and the house that was a past I thought to myself This was a new life that will soon start In the land of freedom I have to ignore my heart

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Nothing but Memories Will Callewaert Sadness cascades over me Like a running waterfall Life is bleak on this ship Not knowing where we are And now my family is Very long gone The wind of the ocean Cracked like a whip And everything was cold Like a banker's heart... Stagnant souls watch ground As if it were a parade.. I walk the deck with averted eyes Seeking for comfort But no reassurance I try to focus on something else I focus on the sound of the ship tearing through the ocean My spirit burns with passion and perplex And has concerns about what lies ahead Until the end With nothing but questions And memories that will take me Into the elusive light

Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ September 7, 1951 Christopher Hostetter Dear Diary, Today was a strange day. My friends and I got together to get soda at the local convenience store. My parents said to come home after we got soda but of course, we got distracted when my friends and I saw this remote abandoned church. There must have been five to six of us; I can't remember now that I think about it. I have always been a curious person but not to the extent where I would disobey my parents. The church had broken windows, rats running around, broken glass everywhere and mold. The first step I took into the church, I started to cough while looking around. As my friends and I were exploring the church, we found cigarettes on the floor everywhere. Surprisingly, some were still burning. My friend Josh thought it would be funny to burn a leaf with one of the cigarette lighters. Josh dropped the burning leaf, thinking it was going to burn out eventually. One of the church stools caught on fire, but by the time we noticed, the left wall of the church was burning. We were all coughing and crying while running to the exit, but the flames were everywhere. I thought I was dead. Then, two teens came out of nowhere grabbing us. At first I thought they were kidnapping me, but then I realized that they were saving me. One of the teens took me and three others while the other one was evacuating the rest of my friends. We all got out, but I didn't see the other teen leave. The guy that saved me was looking around but could not find his friend. Then he started to cry when he realised his friend was stuck inside the church. I wonder who these teens are. I wished I asked them their names. I'm so scared. What if the police are after my friends and me? At least I’m still alive. Thanks to the two teenagers my friends and I are still alive. Adventure to a New Life Bennett Fici I told her I was leaving and I never looked back. My journey to a better place has begun. The only things I am bringing are a full bottle of water, a shovel, a flint and steel, and one thousand dollars in cash. To where I'm going I have no clue, but to what I'm going to do there, well that's up to me when I get to where I'm going. For right now, I have to focus on the present. It has now been 21 hours since I've left my home. The sun is high in the sky and blazing hot. Judging by the sun, I'd say it’s about 1300 hours which means I need to start looking for a water source and food source. I keep walking for a little while longer but then out of nowhere, I see a little rodent scurry across the plane and into a hole in the ground. I struggle to make a spear with a sharp rock and a thin log. When it’s finally made, I go over to the hole and start to dig with the shovel. I give up on the digging and sit on the side of the hole away from the entrance, but close enough for me to hurl the spear. About twenty minutes passes by when a little head pops out of the hole. It dashes across the little opening in the brush. Then it stops to look around, and that is when I throw the spear. I hit it in the back where the spine is and it dies instantly. I now have food for a couple of days. The next morning I venture off towards a sound I heard last night, which sounded like a boom or two objects hitting one another. Around 1100 hours I hear the same sound again, but this time just a little closer. I look to where it comes from and I see four buildings and an airplane about the size of a tanker ship. I start jogging once I reached the place. A couple of guys ask where I was from and why I was walking and looked so beat up. I tell them the whole story and they generously let me live with them for a while until I am healthy enough to go into the world of what is called a city.

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Sorrow Will Creevy The portrait sitting as still as a statue I take it down It gives me a stabbing pain of sadness I do not want to leave my family I wrap it carefully in my cleanest handkerchief tie it with a string Place it in the case between my clothes, I close the case and sigh Starting to cry Everything packed I close the case and strap it with my only extra belt Emily puts her hand over mine she can sense my sadness We stand over the case hands together Speaking without talking both of us sensing the feeling of maybe never seeing each other again I don’t know if I will be able to survive Is this the end of the life we shared ?

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Stending Christian Eikeboom (The start of his new life, and the end of his past life ) The water churned below, as we slowly chugged into the harbor. Massive statues greeted us, many people looked at us. We all rejoiced as we knew we were safe. Many boats, bustled in the harbor like people at Grand Central Station. All greeting us, with their eyes. Our massive boat moved slowly forward, slicing through waves. After many hard weeks at sea we have finally arrived As we look forward, we see the massive city towering above us, casting shadows into the bay. Our boat continues to move forward until it stops, mooring in the harbor. I feel a twinge of regret as I know I have left my family behind. Birds fly above, a symbol of freedom, flying nimbly through the sky. We are safe Although my family is not.

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Why did I leave? Ian Kaplan How could I do this? The pain the misery the regret of leaving my lovely family. They mean everything to me; They are like a p oor man’s shelter which is crucial to his survival. I struggle to keep all the warm memories of them close to me, letting nothing pull me away from them. As I try to dig deep into my memories, the m ysterious creature in this crusty, old apartment sits on the windowsill observing my desperate emotions. But I realize that if I hadn’t left them to get a better job, there would be no way for me to support them any longer. I can’t let go of the life I left, any longer.

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Ship to Freedom Kyle Levine The ship, black as a bat, moves slowly Letting off steam as we move toward our destination Safety! Seeing people with their children and their spouses I think of my dear, dear family Melancholy steals my heart like a robber steals from a bank. I think of little Chloe too young to understand what’s really going on and my lovely Samantha the sun in these dark days What has happened to me? I used to take a bullet for my family Now I’m fleeing! leaving my loved ones in danger I don’t feel like a man right now I feel like a lowlife sardine Just like the ones in the water below me But at least they're happy Right now I’m sitting here wishing I’d never woken up that morning I see these people around me! Some happy, excited at the prospect of freedom Some sad, from leaving their families forever and I think, what would’ve happened if this war had never started

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Account of a Vietnamese Immigrant Ryan Levine I watched as the communists took down South Vietnam’s flag and replaced it with a communist flag. The war was over. I had known it for a while. Some of the high ranked officers and rich people and their families began to leave. When the American army pulled out of the war, we had lost most of our hope. The Americans helped support us, give us supplies, and protect us. They only came back to help the rich and intelligent people to leave. Communism scared me, and being only 13, I needed to leave. We found out that ships were leaving Vietnam and we got on them. I got lost for a while as a wave of people knocked me over. My father yelled, “Ryan, where are you?” I didn’t see them for another month after I boarded the ship. They were all there, it was just too clustered to see them and t oo loud to call for them. I got on board and sat below deck. The pilot made a few announcements, including warnings about pirates and storms that could kill us all. I was tired. Just moments ago, I had seen the Vietnam War won by communists and then I was trampled and separated from my family. I was especially scared from warnings the captain made about pirates and storms. I was worried about all my friends, family, and things I had to leave behind. I had grown up during the war, and only ever experienced violence and conflict. I grew seasick thinking about it all. I had to get to a different country with an anticommunist government. I tried to be excited; I bet my family was excited, but everything else quickly topped my excitement. The captain was right about the storms. A ship next to us was demolished and we had to pick up the survivors, which lost a lot of fuel. Another ship was attacked by pirates and many people died or were hurt and robbed. We lost fuel and drifted at sea for two weeks, until a passing ship helped us. They brought us to Thailand, where I was reunited with my family. While we were in Thailand, we were given a choice of where to go next. My family chose America because of the education and job opportunities. We all got tickets to take a boat to America. We thought they would help us because they helped the others before us. We got on the boat and lay down and sighed for the first time in a month. I was now excited. I was reunited with my family and we were going to America. The trip took us two months, but we saw the coast of America. One hour later, as we got closer to the coast, people gathered and threw rocks at us. We ducked, and a man shouted, “Go back! We don’t need anymore immigrants!” My parents told us that everything was going to be alright, but my two brothers looked frightened. I tried to see how many people there were, and I saw nearly a thousand. We finally landed near the Statue of Liberty, and applied to be let into the country. After multiple background checks and forms, we were given citizenship. We were placed into a refugee camp in Florida, and after a month, we got sponsorship to move to Massachusetts. We moved to Massachusetts, but we had to live in the poor sections because of our lack of education. My parents took a year to get a job that finally paid enough to put us in school. My parents worked hard and got many promotions, and we moved to the middle class section in Boston. At my new public school, I was bullied and teased. I was put into a special help class and worked hard, but I still couldn’t understand the work being taught. My parents had at least five years of education, but I was on my second year. I was soon accepted and put into regular classes. Soon enough, we learned about the Vietnam War and I was at the top of the class, but when I saw the statistics of boats leaving Vietnam, 30% of the boats were attacked by pirates or storm., I freaked out, having known many people on the boats. My parents said we were lucky to have been accepted into America and survive everything. I went to school the next day excited to learn and play, but I really missed Saigon at that moment: my friends, my old life, my house, and my other school, and most of all, my garden where I grew papaya trees and helped raise chicks.

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ A Different World Malkie Shamari We emerge and are in a new land. Everything is unfamiliar, as though on a new planet But it feels friendly and welcoming it seems that everyone is feeling the way I am feeling I see two boats with one giant man on each boat they seem to be greeting each other I feel as if this is the place I have wanted to be for my whole life, but I am scared Scared of horror! Horror but there is no horror On the boats there are items that I have seen before, but yet they are new to me Some people around me are shouting and looking at this new world Everything feels as if it is in slowmotion Slow motion! I see objects in the sky I have no idea what they are On the far horizon, I see tall buildings. Buildings that are very high I want to be a part of them Sometimes I feel I have lost myself Lost myself in a world full of wonder There are other people that try to make us feel comfortable I wish that I could bring my family here. Here with me

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Leaving Home Jack Mackey I must choose one thing to bring with me. A picture of my two dogs Lulu and Baxter They have been the biggest part of my life A Journey Old, weak, rickety boats stare at the horizon and don’t get sick No one knows where we land or how long the journey will be. Excitement and adrenaline is what we feel at the start of the ride but that quickly changes Cramped With thousands of people No space with nothing to eat for our families to live! Our Lives are sold to ship every night I ask the same question, will I die on this wicked, wretched machine? Feelings It is a battle of happy and sad Happy is bombing sad by thinking how wonderful America will be Sad lashes back with the good times we will never experience again. And maybe this same battle is happening back home. Landed Oh thank god we are on shore I might not have survived another day and know I am happy feeling that peace is restored inside my head Leaving Home I am glad I did it.

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Roanoke “The Lost Colony” Stephen Warming Did you know that the first attempt at colonization for the British in the New World was unsuccessful? Actually, it was more of a mystery than a failure. The Roanoke colony is a mystery of what happened to 100 people ("Archaeologists Find New Clues to "Lost Colony" Mystery."). The colonists of the Roanoke colony had a very impish relationship with the local Native Americans and one day the colonists vanished, but to where? The colonists moved away either to nearby Croatoan island or Chesapeake Bay where they assimilated with the local Indian tribes. It was March, 1584 and the French and the British enemies had set up colonies in the New World while the British still had not (until Walter Raleigh) given a patent to discover and settle in North America in the name of the English Crown (1st Contacts). This was the first attempt at colonization in the New World for the British. They set sail and arrived in the Outer Banks of North Carolina on a little 18 square mile island called Roanoke (1st Contact). Roanoke is a small island in the big world, but is now home to one of the biggest mysteries in the world. During this first attempt at civilization in the new world, Roanoke had difficulty getting supplies from England and asked the local Native American tribe, the Algonquians, to provide them with corn (1st Contact). The Roanoke colony was unable to complete their goal of making a self sufficient colony there, later there were consequences to their actions. T his ruined the once thriving Natives economy and ruined their relationship with the colonists (1st Contact). The first trip to Roanoke was a failure as the the Natives could not continue to supply the colonists with food ("Roanoke Colony." Encyclopedia of North American Immigration). The Natives should have never helped the colonists as their tribe's economy was the worst it had ever been after the colonists left Roanoke. Even though the first Attempt at building a Colony in the New World did not work, there was no reason for British to not start another one. On the second attempt to create a British colony, the British sent over 100 people including military men, women and children. This proved that the colonists were going to America to stay as they brought all the people they would need to create a new colony. This time their leader was John White (Archaeologists Find New Clues to "Lost Colony" Mystery"). John White was on the first voyage too, so he knows what they have to do to have a successful colony. The hopeful colonists settled at Roanoke again, despite intentions to establish themselves further north in the Chesapeake Bay, where more friendly Indians were encountered by the earlier colonists on an exploratory trip to the north (1st Contact). This was a bad choice for the colonists to go back to Roanoke as they had already made enemies there, the Natives. Despite intentions of having a self sufficient colony, the colonists were quickly forced to once again turn to the natives for food (" Roanoke Colony." Encyclopedia of North American Immigration). Once again this was a bad result as the relationship between the colonists and the Natives was already very bad. Due to the lack of food, John White returned to England for supplies, but before he left, the colonists agreed on a code, so John White could find them when he returned. This code said that “the colonists shouldn’t fail to write or carve on the trees or posts of the doors the name of the place where they should be going.” On top of that ,at his departure from them in 1587 he told them, “that if they should happen to be distressed in any of those places, that then they should carve over the letters or name, a Cross.” (1st Contacts) It was a very good idea for John White to go back to England for supplies, as this showed grit because they knew that they were failing to make a colony again, but they were not giving up. The question is: will the colonists need to use the signs to communicate with John White or will they stay in Roanoke? In 1588, before John returned to Roanoke, all English shipping was stopped and pressed into service against the Spanish Armada (First Contacts). By the time John White got back to Roanoke in 1590, the colonists weren't there. When John White got to Roanoke he immediately saw Croatoan carved into a tree. Croatoan is a nearby island. There was no cross in the engraving,

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ so John White knew that the colonists were safe in Croatan (Roanoke Rescue Voyage ). This was a big sign to John White as he now felt comfortable knowing that the colonists were alive. The night before, a group of men went to a nearby island to get fresh water; but unfortunately, there was a storm coming their way and they were unable to bring the water back to the ships (R oanoke Rescue Voyage). It was a huge loss not to have fresh water on the journey and without fresh water, many men would not be getting to Croatoan. After exploring the island looking for signs of the colonists, they immediately sailed to Croatoan with no fresh water. When the crew was pulling up the anchor, the cable broke causing the Anchor to surge to the bottom of the ocean, leaving them with only one spare anchor and 1 cable (Roanoke Rescue Voyage ). At this point, things were going the wrong way. They had limited water and they only had one anchor, so John White decided that since they had little to no fresh water, they should not travel to Croatoan. He decided to sail to a nearby Island to get water and rethink their plan. (Roanoke Rescue Voyage) They decided that they should not go to Croatoan, but was that the right choice? Nothing else was ever heard from John White and his crew, but the question is did John White ever find the colonists? The colony with a bright future suddenly disappeared, but why? In 1998, archaeologists studying treering data in Roanoke found that extreme drought conditions persisted between 1587 and 1589 ("Roanoke Colony." Encyclopedia of North American Immigration). This evidence could mean that the colonists could not live in the conditions and left. The colonists moved away either to nearby Croatoan island or Chesapeake Bay where they assimilated with local Indian tribes. Roanoke is an island located in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and was once home to a Native American tribe and a British Colony. Along the way, the Native Americans and the British developed a rivalry as the British continued to not be able to provide for themselves, forcing the Natives to help them which eventually crashed their economy. As this dispute between the two groups went on, the colonists suddenly vanished and it is unknown if they left Roanoke and went to Croatoan or if they were absorbed into a tribe, but evidence shows that they most likely fled the island. The mystery regarding the Roanoke Colony continues today, but evidence shows the departure of the colonists rather than being absorbed into a nearby tribe. Maybe one day we will take all the puzzles of this mystery and put them together.

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ An Enjoyable Project Charlie Wells My group’s task for the Mars Project was architecture. We made many things to show to our audience, to help them understand what our plan was. We had to figure out how to make habitable houses on Mars with adequate oxygen, water, electricity, temperature, and food. We had to figure out a way to make a (relatively) cheap dome that could house our community and protect us from the elements. The last, and one of the most crucial things we had to do was figure out where we would set up the community. We 3D printed many models of what our buildings would look like. We made models of the house inside and outside, windmills, the police station, and a “Town Hall/Center” building. Our slides explained what we built houses out of, and how we would construct them. We made a spreadsheet for the whole class about the cost and our budget for what we were doing. But of course, with all these things you have to do, you have to make a lot of decisions along the way. We had to make innumerable decisions along the way to complete our project. The first decision we had to make was who would be our group leader. My group picked me to be the leader. We then had to decide who would do the different work. Malkie was mainly in charge of research while Max was in charge of writing, and I did the 3D printing designs as well as the map. We then got to work doing research which we put on a spreadsheet. We found out the easiest way to make habitable houses was to have a house, and then a shell around them, with a small garden and artificial sunlight. By doing this, the astronauts can walk “outside” and have the artificial sun on their face and the garden to look at and make fresh oxygen. This helps them feel calm and almost like they are on Earth as opposed to Mars. We decided what we would make the buildings out of fairly quickly. We chose fibrous steel because compared to other materials at its resistance level it is fairly cheap at $100,000 a Ton. It can resist cold snaps, and extreme heat as well as the force from rocks falling, or even bullets. This makes it a perfect material for building on Mars. We chose to make our dome out of glass, but the glass would be bulletproof at $500 a square foot, and it would be reinforced by more fibrous steel. All in all, there were many decisions we had to make in making a habitable environment on Mars, but there were even more, which we had to make with other groups. We worked with other groups a couple different times. We had to research with the environment group to find a way to make water and power on Mars. For this, we found the OmniProcessor, which turns human waste into water and methane. We talked and researched with the community group to find a way to fit a food court and a mall in the colony and budget. We investigated with the environment group to figure out where we should settle our colony and how we could grow food in space. For that, we found that building further north is better so we chose the north side of Olympus Mons. Our group’s work was essential to the colony, because we created the whole infrastructure, and without it the other groups buildings and ideas won’t work. Because we were helped by other groups, we were able to make our project very successful. There were countless ways our group was successful. We were successful in problemsolving and figuring out what materials we would build things out of. We had challenges with making the map, and making a whole 3D model would be nearly Impossible to 3D print, and if it was just built with styrofoam and such, it would take much longer. We were successful with leadership while making the 3D models of individual buildings, and getting power/water/oxygen supplied to our colony. We were a very dynamic team right off the bat because we assigned people jobs that fit what they were best at. If I were to change anything about this, I would change the need for a full 3D model. I would also try to find an online map making software, and tell the students about it beforehand. I also think this project would be more suited for higher level students because there was just so much to take care of. I believe that this project would have been better if we were ignoring the how, for how we get the things to Mars, and we just

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ talked about why we were building the things we were building. However, all in all, I think this was a very good project, and did a very good job of summing up T he Giver. Our community was similar and different from T he Giver in many ways. However there were two basic ways that it was similar, and two basic ways it was different. It was similar in that everyone gets equal opportunities. It is also similar that we will try to negate our society of pain and try to keep it as happy and healthy as possible. It was also different in two ways. It was different in the fact that we had freedom of thought. Also, they are not coming to a prebuilt society and they will have their lives planned out for them by some “Community/Panel of Elders.” Our community was comparable to The Giver in numerous ways. For one, because we want our community to have very little conflict, all people will have an opportunity for a job, and a pay based on how hard they work. We also have equal food for all. Just like in The Giver we will try to make our food healthy, to try and negate the need for surgeries and things like that. However, if someone does get hurt we will have treatment for them. Like The Giver we have mandatory education, and it is all equal for all children. The education in our community is equal for all children no matter their intelligence or ability because everyone can grow on that front, and all people deserve equal opportunities. However, amongst all the similarities, our community contrasts from The Giver in multiple ways. Everyone in our community can make their own decisions. They can choose what job they want and not be assigned one, and what food they want to a certain extent. Our education goes until age sixteen, unlike The Giver where it goes until only age twelve and then they have the ceremony of twelve. We will not have birthmothers, like in The Giver where you would get assigned a child, but we will have real couples, not fake matchups. Also, everyone has the right to live in our community, even flawed people will not be killed like in The Giver like when Jonas’ dad kills the lighter twin. We have a list of rules, but no where near as extensive as the one in The Giver for example we give freedom of thought, where in T he Giver they have almost abolished thought from their community, and that is why they need a “Receiver of Memory.” Children, if they ever become part of our community, will have different belongings based on what the parents think is right. Unlike The Giver where all food except fish is imported, everything we eat will be grown inside of our community. As you can see there are many ways that our community is similar and different from The Giver’s community.

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Albemarle Grade 7 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Darkness Falls Zack Le Roy I ask a man where to find home where tentacles of darkness snake across the sky He starts to answer when his eyes widen with shock and fear I turn around and I see men the size of four buildings stacked on top of each other Fully decked out in hazmat gear. Vacuums sucking up everything in its path we run to the sound of screams piercing the air like knives to the heart I think of my family, of my daughter, of my wife People all around us get sucked up through the air As if they sprouted wings and flew away Suddenly we are illuminated with a light ten times brighter than the brightest spotlight we run faster Blindly towards hope. A sewer cover we escape as a boot clad foot comes down from above hitting the ground where we stood seconds ago we wait and wait and wait For What?

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Photo by Charlie Moore

Art by Ricardo Garcia

Art by Louis Hoffmann

Photo by Jose Hernaiz

Photo by Felix Cutler

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Photo by Venkat Vellanki

Art by Jacob Smalley

Art by Blane Zhu

Photo by Charlie Moore

Photo by Stephen Bruning

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Art by Myles Foster

Photo by Mann Pandya

Photo by Venkat Vellanki Art by Ricardo Garcia

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Photo by Ethan Johnson LeComte

Art by Joe Todd

Photo by Max Rudnick

Art by John Fritz

Photo by Charlie Moore

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Photo by Preston Planzer

Art by Ricardo Garcia

Photo by Charlie Moore

Art by Alastair Bock

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Childhood Memory Toby Urell “Because that’s what a chimney sweep does!” The song ended, the lights went out, and the audience applauded. The trembling of my little legs made me worry about if the audience would be able to see how nervous I was. The silhouettes of hundreds of bodies were nervewracking, but I locked eyes with my teacher and knew everything would be fine in a couple minutes. The soot on my face made me scratch my itchy left cheek and blink my eyes. As if the sun had just risen over the crest of a mountain, the lights came back on. Using one of my classmates as if he was a shield, I hid from the bright lights. In my mind I went over the line I was supposed to say as Will and Nick took on their larger roles. Their voices echoed through the Performing Arts Center. “Oh no, here comes my line!” I thought nervously. I thought about all the scary things I had done in my life including life threatening things and I realized this was scarier than all of the others combined. My shoulders felt tired from holding up my heavy costume. The soft tapping of my left lace could be heard as I trembled on the spot and I could hear the metallic end striking the stage. Thoughts of tripping and falling flat on my face infront of the whole Lower School. Like an animal trying to escape its enclosure, my heart beat furiously. I let my line pass through my mind as I got ready to say it. “We still need to clean Mr. Matthew's chimney.” I thought over and over. That was it. All I needed to say in that scene was a sentence. The complexity of other’s lines comforted me about mine, because they hadn’t let us down yet. I took my first step towards the front of our conjumbled group of actors. Nick was just finishing up one of his lines, so I stopped to let him recite it. I made sure not to ruin his part. “What’s my line!” I thought to myself. ¨Something about cleaning a chimney. I will make something up. I can improvise pretty easily.” I remembered Mrs. Brown the music teacher telling us to improvise if we forgot, or messed up. ¨WILL, YOU MESSED UP YOUR LINE!” Screamed Nick. I came back to the moment. Everything was going wrong. Pandemonium overcame the stage as none of my bewildered classmates knew what to do. To my right, one kid ran off the stage crying to his parents. An argument between Will and Nick had erupted and was still raging on. Lucky for me, there was a convenient mass of bodies between me and the audience as I was closer to the back. I crouched down to avoid being seen. It did not matter much, as I was very short for my grade. This was all going wrong. For a moment a thought of me walking to the front of the stage came to my mind followed by the play being successful and me being carried away on my classmates shoulders. Then reality hit me. “This play is like a plane that is missing a wing.” I thought. “Shhh!” Mrs. Brown hissed at Nick and Will. All of a sudden they stopped arguing, the audience turned quiet, the kid stopped crying, the lights came back on, and the world seemed to slow down, as I realized my line was next. It was my line! I stepped up to the front of the stage and stood there having remembered my line. Proudly I recited it as if I were announcing the 2009 Overall Grammys Winner. The only problem was that I wasn’t. “We still need to clean Mr. Matthew's chimney!” I shouted. I proceeded to take a deep bow and receded to my earlier position. The next kid came a long and my scene was forgotten. All that build up for a sentence I realized. Maybe it wasn’t as terrifying as all the other scary things I had experienced in my life. ¨Let's go home,” said my best friend. We all walked off the stage follow by tumultuous applause. It was over! We were safe. None of us had died in the process of the play as I thought would have happened considering we were in front of over two hundred people. I walked out with a smile on my face to see my teacher, and finished up my Friday while receiving lots of praise from the fourth, third, and first graders.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Dying Tree Charlie Moore Two carried in Two carried out The dead are replaced with the dying Under the Dying Tree The two newest, injured in the last shelling One of them barely clings to life His leg clings no longer Under the Dying Tree The other has taken a shell to the gut His innards he coughs onto the already red ground He calls for his mother Under the Dying Tree Within the hour they are no longer of this world No longer will they see the sun rise No longer will they see the sun set In time their sacrifice will be forgotten Under the Dying Tree Wet Dog Smell Tom Banse I can barely contain my excitement as I sprint down the well worn hill, and towards the woods. The smell of wet dog fill my nostrils, and the sounds of dog barking berate my ears. I begin to fill with excitement and I pick up more and more speed. My dad hurries behind me, telling me to slow down. I turn back to see a behemoth figure of my dog followed by an even bigger owner, and tell him that I will meet him in the clearing. As I run past the abandoned cornfields swaying in the wind, and the wild blackberry bush, I start to notice more and more dogs. Some so large I am afraid they might eat me, some so small that they remind me of my baby brother. I see dogs with sparse, matted tufts of white hair, and Dogs with so much hair I begin to wonder if there is any dog under there at all. While I stop to looking at the dogs, I remember my real motive: the island. My stumpy legs move as fast as they can. I begin to make out the mossy stone bridge that leads to the centre of the park. I slip and fall on a patch of slimy moss, but my skinned knee does not faze me. Warm rays of sunshine pour over me as I run into a vast opening in the surrounding woods. The sound of dogs and their owners calling them tells me I have made it to the dog park. In the middle of a small lake sits a small island, made of shrunken pine trees atop patches of dirt and rock. I sprint past a group of dogs on my way to the island, and they begin to give chase. The dogs quickly catch up and one pounces on me. I am knocked to a grassy patch of dirt, but as I try to get up, I am berated by five or six dogs licking my face. I slowly stand up and wipe the dripping mud off of my pants. I reach the edge of the lake, and I begin to jump from rock to rock, making my way across the shallows of the lake. I land on the rocky shore of the island and quickly scramble to the top. I lie down on a sun baked rock, and watch the pillowy clouds meander by, I drift asleep.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Most Peaceful Place On Earth Oliver Stought After a two hour drive to New Hampshire our car pulls into our gravel driveway. With each rotation of the tire I can hear loud crunching and crackling as our car crushes rocks and bursts them into smithereens. It is pitch black outside, and I can only see what the headlights are illuminating. We reach the end of the driveway and the headlights shine right into our house. I can see our cozy, light gray house before me. I step out of the car and stretch my legs. The feeling of my lungs filling with the fresh New Hampshire air makes me feel at home. I hear the leaves rustling and smell the pine trees with no pollution to ruin them. I love my house in New Hampshire. I escape from my school life, relax, and have a merry time. My eyes pop open and light floods the room faster than a tsunami. I instantly hear the roar of a boat passing by and smell my mom’s, mouthwatering pancakes. I roll out of my warm cozy bed with its surfboard sheets, and lower my feet onto a super plush and fuzzy carpet. Each step is as though you are walking on a cloud. I head downstairs and look out the giant transparent glass door. I see luscious green trees, sparkling blue water scattered with paddleboarders, and boats whizzing by leaving a white trail of bubbles. After I have some delicious, warm, and buttery pancakes it is time to take our boat out. I put on my swim gear and step outside. The air is crisp with a tad of chilliness. I begin the endless trek down to the dock. My indecisive dog follows me all the way down passing me, then stopping in front of me to smell whatever she would like to smell, then catching back up to me to do the exact same routine all over again. I make my way down to the dock, and when I get there, so many fabulous memories come back to me, but there is no time for those, as my dad already has the boat running and ready to go, so I grab the waterskiing gear, hop in the boat, and we speed off to have many fabulous adventures and create new everlasting memories. The sun is setting, sending streaks of pink and orange light into the air. With every second there is less sun and the air turns more frigid. I sprint down the wooden dock taking a giant leap of edge, and for a second I am flying, but then I quickly submerge into warm, familiar water. My head pops back above the surface and I take in some long, deep breaths, and swim over to the ladder swimming faster than Michael Phelps. The moment I get out of the water I instantly get the chills as the sun is no longer with us, and goosebumps go all down my arms and legs, but then a warm, wooly towel hits my head with a soft blow. It's so satisfying, I wish I could stay in it forever, but that won’t happen because It’s time for a delicious dinner grilled by my dad. I embark on the trek back up the stars and my stomach starts to growl like a monster. My dog trots beside me taking in the new smells, and my thighs begin to burn. It was another great day in paradise! I love it up in New Hampshire. It is very important to me, because I can go there and unwind and forget about what's happening at school, or anything else that creates pressure. I can go there and just have a boisterous time, relax, play a round of golf, jump in the lake, or hangout with friends.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ My Perfect Spot Vandrey Sisson As nap time neared, I grabbed a soft sleeping mat, my stuffed animal, B unny May, and a comfortable blanket to keep me warm. I put everything into place, lay down, and looked up at the fascinating stars that gripped the ceiling. We waited for Donna to hint to us what was for our before supper snack. After all the children were tucked in, I heard a delicate voice, “Alright children, time to get some rest. When you all wake up there will be delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.” I carefully listened to her steps, slowly fading until I couldn’t hear them anymore. I was in my comfortable place, and before I knew it, my eyelids dropped, and I was in the world of miraculous dreams. In Donna’s Daycare, I’d sleep behind the couch everyday, for I found it to be a peaceful, quiet, place that I felt was my own. There, all the distractions that usually kept me from sleep, were nonexistent. Donna’s DayCare was a small, comfortable two story house. To enter the daycare, you had to walk up eight steps to reach the porch. It was a alluring porch with many toys, with which we could play before and after meals. Once inside the front door, there were steps, that were blocked off to the right. As you went straight along, you’d start to smell the delicious food being made in the kitchen. On the left there were two rooms. One of these was where we played with our Legos, and designed all types of structures. In the other room, was the dimly lit, nap room, where once a day we took a two hour nap. I hated having to sleep near all the other children, they would always talk and rustle their blankets. Every noise I heard kept me awake. One day, I saw the couch had moved from its original spot. The blue, homey couch, was now diagonal to the walls. I had discovered a serene and perfect spot for me to nap in, away from the noise and irritating kids. That was the day that I found my perfect napping corner. With Bunny May in my hand, the toasty blanket upon my chest, I decided to sleep hidden away. I slowly closed my heavy eyes. Being over fifteen feet from all the children’s noises and commotion, I felt relaxed and comfortable. Right next to me, was a heater, that also helped to impede the sound of the children's voices. As nap time ended, I always felt a feeling of melancholy, when I realized that I would have to leave my cosy corner. To this day, whenever I see a blue sofa placed diagonally between two walls, I’m immediately transported to my daycare where I had found a safe haven for my naps, and the cheerful memory’s comes darting into my mind.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ An Opportunity Mosi WIlliams It all originated when I was a young twelve year old boy just hanging out with my cousin. We were joyfully playing tag until “Okay Chris get ready for practice!” Confusion had suddenly pierced into my train of thought. I started to contemplate for a few minutes, Then I suddenly burst out saying, “What practice?”, I thought my Aunt Damia was joking around, but to my blunt assumptions it was true! I immediately asked if I could attend this mysterious practice and to my luck I heard, “ Sure Moe, but ask your mom first.” My mom acquiesced. Around 1 p.m., we went to Brookline MA where his practice was held. Once I saw the field, I felt thrilled. It was a football field! When we got on the field, I almost could not control myself and wanted to participate. The coach was pleasant and said I could join, but once he had seen my speed and athleticism he proposed the idea of letting me play. At that moment my life changed forever, and I will always remember that moment. For about six years I had been asking to play the sport of football, and every time I asked, my mom would hastily reply, “No!” Coach Mike asked my mom if I could play and amazingly she replied, “Sure, we can try it out.” It took two weeks to get the paperwork sorted out. The first practice turned out to be a hitting practice! I have never hit anyone in my life and now I had to try and tackle my teammate? I asked myself this question every time I had to tackle someone. I was running at him up tall and all I heard was a loud “Clank”. This was the commencement to my football career. In the first scrimmage, my coaches had me playing cornerback. It was a disaster. I was missing tackles, didn’t know where to line up, but one good thing happened that day. I got to run around like a madman. This is how it was for the first two games. Suddenly in the third game something clicked in my brain. Read the play and react accordingly. I apparently played so well that the coaches let me play wide receiver. It was a hot, beautiful day. The turf was green, and we were down by one point in the fourth quarter and were on the offensive. My coach called the play with intense emotion. “Pats go 1111, look for Mosi!” When I heard this I was excited that the coach utterly placed the conclusion of the game in my ungraceful hands! As I ran back to the huddle with the QB, it seemed as if time had slowed down. We lined up. Hut, Hut!!! At this point all that I was thinking was run Moe run! The QB threw the ball and the corner was three yards behind me. The wind made the ball fall short, so I had to run back and catch the ball. I caught it! The corner dived at my legs and I swiftly did a ballerina leap by accident and dashed past the safety as if I was Sonic for a “50 yard touchdown by Mosi Williams!” After that touchdown I was given the nickname “Chocolate Sonic,” and now “Chocolate Thunder.” That was a day I will never forget. It is my most vivid memory!

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Front Max Rudnick The blazing gunfire cuts across the fields, as the crying of my comrades and enemies ring out. Despair floats through the air as both sides suffer loss. Barbed wire cuts deep into the flesh of the enemy, causing them to retreat while we continue to destroy their troops. The walls that encase us are just high enough for me to avoid the flying debris. It flies over me after the ground gives way to a shell. It can be anything from dirt, to bodies, to metal. Terrifying objects that you do not believe until you see. Water flows in over the walls as we run. Forgetting about our family and friends. We care about living and breathing. Yelling and screaming slice through the air while we race between the walls. Dodging left, dodging right, hoping that life will go on after the running stops. A Stone Emmett Smith I can't feel anymore War turned me into a stone No longer live I How Can They Know Connor Simko With wonder he enters, awe in his eyes Guts and glory, he falls and dies Can he know what will be asked of him, taken of his soul? What he’ll give to his country, perhaps no more important role She’s a daughter, a sister, a mother, a friend A fighter, proud American, warrior to the end Barely old enough to vote on the war on which he takes a stand? She’ll put her life in the hands of those not yet thirty in command They are too young to truly know what callous war has to show!

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ A Literal Heaven on Earth Max de SaintExupery I’ve always been more of an indoor person. You could see me spending 90% of my time indoors and before you say “My goodness that kid should get off his iPad”, let me tell you that I was born in 2001, long before the age of Apple technology and I was twelve when I finally received my first iPod Touch for Christmas. What did I do then, instead of mashing my brain for hours in front of a tiny screen, for all those years, I would read. Book after book, encyclopedia after encyclopedia as long as my brain could intake the knowledge supplied in a single sitting. Consequently, my imagination bloomed in that time period and each day, dozens of facts would permeate my brain. When I discovered that there was such a building where you could read for hours on end and even borrow books for free, it felt as if a dream had come true. Since the very first day I walked into a library for the first time, I spent hundreds of hours in many libraries across the globe, spanning from a local one in New Jersey to one in the midst of Hong Kong. In the words of novel author Virginia Woolf, “ I’d ransack public libraries, and find them full of sunk treasure.” Despite all these years and thousands of pages, I’ve never gotten bored of the timeless concept of a massive collection of books open to the public since visiting a library is just like going through an adventurous dream by staying in just one place. The library is a place of imagination and discovery where all you have to do is sit in a spot and read for hours on end. The most obvious factor of what makes a library so great is due to it being a giant reading catalogue for everyone. Walking into a library begins with a choice: trust reality and go for nonfiction collections or let reality fly out the window and head for countless novels. On one hand, nonfiction can distract you for hours, informing you of everything that has happened in our world, be it scientific, historical, cultural, mathematical or a completely new aspect of the universe. Hundreds of books can be found to help you on any topic that you want to know about. With the detail and length of a textbook, reading a standard nonfiction book may seem like a chore but beautifully detailed images and understandable vocabulary make it easier to conceive a topic than the way that it is taught in school. While not as easy to find or as updated as websites on the Internet, you can always study the books to learn what you need and a bit more. By grabbing a few books on the same topic at once, you can make that you can always obtain accurate data. When I got into school, I initially had trouble in science and history but then, I could always grab something and know it all by next lesson. This knowledge improved my grades and in turn, made me enjoy school even more. On the other hand, fictional novels can be as fun as playing video games as in both forms, media, you will embark on a journey where the events will be amazing and the outcome will be unpredictable. You can simply search up whatever you desire and then look for it or you can even be risky and find a book that you may have never heard of for unknown reasons. Sitting down on the soft carpet and starting a random novel is a truly mysterious adventure, for you may find an underrated gem of a tale...or a literary piece of garbage that was fortunately forgotten. In the endless stacks, novels of all lengths, genres and ages can attract anyone with manys methods, be it interesting characters, intense descriptions or a unique story unlike any other. Each novel has the ability to serve as a drug, for as you read more in the golden silence of the library, the book will drag you in until you will be addicted to the suspense left at wherever you stop. An example of books that became my drug were the pair of Ocarina of Time books here at the Fessenden library. At first, I borrowed them only to pass the time during our literacy hour but soon, it turned into a beautiful tale full of interesting characters and amazing, actionpacked scenes. Finding a catalogue of whatever I wanted made me love reading and each new story opened up new topics that I would come to like, ranging from distant travel described in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels to a compound of ancient mythology and a modern era told of in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus series. Reading novels has also opened up my imagination and helped me write my own stories. With the massive variety of books at your disposal, a library can still entertain for hours on end and since there is so much to choose from, I am continually inspired to return and look for something new. The second factor that makes the library so great is that it makes the reader feel comfortable in their environment. Book reading may be great and can help detach one from the outside world but there are many environments that can destroy the illusion of a great story with uncomfortable reading places, nauseating smells and noises so loud they ruin the atmosphere like a swarm of mosquitoes during the figurative exterior evening between you and your book. Fortunately, the people who run libraries know the nuances caused by distractions so they have designed them to comfort the visitors so they can enjoy their books. When you’re trying to find a seat, softness is added into any conceivable place that one can sit at: chairs, pillows, bean bags, even the carpet feels like a large blanket to sit on. Strict rules also help create a peaceful atmosphere. Whilst many believe that the “No talking”, “No eating” and “Don’t mess around with the books” rules limit their actions, I believe that they were put in place so that people who enjoy visiting the library don’t feel repelled. If everyone talked, you

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ couldn’t hear the imaginary voices of the narrator and the characters. When no one talks, an unpierceable silence removes all distraction, allowing the novel to pull you further and further into its plot. Food can also ruin an atmosphere by creating unwanted smells, making bystanders queasy. Whilst the smell of old pages can discomfort some people, it is also a reminder that the building they are standing in has entertained people for years before and will do so for years after. The final major rule about respecting the books could possibly be the most important of the bunch. I’ve seen many occasions of children who would rather play outside having fun by throwing and misplacing books, ruining them for the next person wanting to pick them up and read them. Keeping them where they belong really lowers the chances of missing pages or stains, making you feel as if some higher force has saved the book for years, just for you. By making me feel comfortable, the library made me want to come again for hours and in turn, I wanted to read and learn more. If the large catalogues of books and the coziness bundled with the atmosphere won’t drag you into enjoying staying at a library, the promise of discovery will. You might discover a new author, a book or series that will make you wish you had discovered earlier. With each new author or story, you will be introduced to new vocabulary and grammatical techniques; learning how to use them will improve your speaking which will impress siblings, parents and English teachers everywhere. Reading can even help unravel secrets of the English language that you would’ve never learned of in the educational system. You can recommend new books to your friends and you can even meet with them in the comfort of the library to discuss them. Eventually, you could find a fan base surrounding your preferred book, further expanding your knowledge of the book and the world around you. Discovering more in the world of literature influenced me to find other library fans and to join book clubs. By doing so, I was able to socialize and learn even more about books, which lead to Lit Quiz, a competition based on questions about books written over multiple points in history, in 2013, when our team had the highest score in the overall competition in the world. The library is like a staircase to enlightenment constantly under construction, with every book read becoming the next step. Even if you experience a problem in life, even if your world has been turned upside down, books will help you get away from that. And with a massive catalogue and a comfortable environment, the library is the ultimate place to escape reality and revert into moments of amazing suspense, be it the climax of the Battle of the Helm’s Deep or the middle of the 74th annual Hunger Games. Therefore, the library is a truly amazing place for you can be entertained, educate yourself and discover more of the real world, just by sitting in a chair, letting hours fly by.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Uncle Jay Ryan Mach I can remember our fishing trips, beach adventures, and cookouts, these are a few fond memories with my uncle before he passed away last winter. Uncle Jay was, and still is one of the most influential and import people to me in my life. He was born and raised in a small town named Westerly in southern Rhode Island. Following college at Villanova where he played soccer on their top team, he returned to Westerly, married and had two children just seven miles from the house he grew up in. These simple facts about him are small in comparison to what his perspective on life meant to me. Upon reaching two years of age Uncle Jay was diagnosed with a fatal disease known as Cystic Fibrosis, he was predicted to only live a short life of 14 years. He never spoke about how in the middle of the night, and sometimes the day he would have to do two hours of selftreatment. He never mentioned how before every meal he would have to swallow a handful of pills. He never wanted people to notice him when he would go on coughing sprees for minutes at a time. He never let these challenges interfere with how he went about his days. What I learned from this was it is possible to have a good attitude even when faced with extreme difficulty in daily tasks. Uncle Jay even with the odds against him went on to live life to the fullest with a great attitude about it. He made me realize that no matter how hard things got you could always be happy with what you’re handed in life, whether it be a C on a test or a fatal sickness. He helped me gain perspective on days that didn’t go my way. I viewed my uncle as a model of how to act in the face of disappointment. For me he gave new meaning to the common phrase “Life is short.” Just an example of how he wanted to live his days to the fullest would be, sometimes with his family every now and then he would come to the beach with us with an IV of medication shoved up his arm just so that he could have a few good memories. He was a role model to me because he was a really great uncle and an extraordinary father to his kids. Weather this be driving his oldest son on a two hour round trip almost every night to get to his soccer practice, or to taking us out on the boat to go fishing. I can only imagine how much his two kids must miss such a great role model. The main lesson that I learned from Uncle Jay is to find enjoyment in everyday activities because life can be short and full of surprises. Always remember to love your family, have a good attitude, work hard, and to not give yourself the opportunity to say that you didn’t live your life to the fullest. You always have to be ready for what life has to throw it you, that being good or bad just as me and my family were on February 12, 2015 when we received heart breaking news that he had passed on.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Death’s Sentence Larkin Flanagan With sweaty palms, shaking knees and a clear, pale face I looked out upon the vast horizon of green, prickly, pine trees. Before me lay the shining darkness of the canyon below me, I suddenly hear the final loud click of my harness, and I know there is no way out. Feeling death smack me right across the face changed my life significantly and without it I would have not been able to overcome my fears. As we started to drive up the mountain, I jumped out of my shoes when I spotted a lady stuck in the middle of the zipline. I started to remember what my guide told me, if you are under 80 pounds go with a partner. Me being a whopping 85 pound granted me independence and made me jump out of my shoes. My fear started to rise and rise. It was as if there was a burning fire in my chest. My palms turned into waterfalls with sweat. My face started to get pale like a piece of computer paper. Every single foot closer to the summit felt like one step closer to death. As I observe my older brother and older cousins on the other side of the busI start to attempt to keep my composure. Even though in my head I was thinking “I am going to die, I am going die.” When I reached the top of the mountain, it was the worse thing than I could’ve even imagine. The once large Pine Trees were the size of a thumb tack. The sight below me put myself in shock. The blackness made me feel as though it was going to swallow me. The canyon made me petrified. The smell of the redwood trees, and the beautiful, translucent, gigantic Pacific Ocean could not even loosen up my fear. Thoughts rushed through my head like what if I fall, or if I chicken out I will never hear the end of it. My instructor tightens my helmet and straps me onto the cold, hard, harness, I feel like a criminal being strapped to the electric chair. At any moment I will die. AHHHHHHHHHH, My brother zips down the horrific, terrifying zipline like he has done millions of times before. “Dang I wish I was him”, I thought “why do I have to be so scared.” Click, that's when I knew I was on next. “Just step off” I told myself. At this point I was just about step off but I quickly turn back towards the platform. Little did I know my older cousin was right behind me. Bang, I lean forward from the powerful push by cousin and off I go. I feel a powerful gush of wind pound right through my face. My knees stopped shaking, the sweat on my palms started to dry and my face started to gain color once again. I felt like I was on top of the world. Without that push I would not be able to contemplate to do anything above 10 feet above the ground. Without that push I would not have the life changing experience that I had ziplining. One little push into the unrevealed can give you something that will last a lifetime.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Place of Influence Zachary Kornfeld As we climb up the circuitous narrow mountain road, we squeeze around massive boulders and trees that hang low so that they almost touch the roof as you pass. On this day it's foggy and damp, and when you pass through the different layers of the fog things on the side of the road reach out to you like beasts trying to snatch you up. After reaching the marker that states that you are halfway up to the main area above, the road squeezes in and you have to pick your way in and out of small gaps between rock and cliff without grazing your vehicle. Staring out the window, I can just see the small dark area near the apex of the peak. We are cheered by the notion that our destination is almost reached and we are one step closer to adventure. In just a few minutes we reach the base of the trail fork and exit the car. Then I walk closer to the path going almost directly to the vertical cliff face. It had an imposing look to it, and the shadows cast an eerie pale light down the glistening stone, dirt and foliage. My father and I are the only ones at the trailhead because we had arrived early on in the morning. Since our arrival, we had found a route to the summit that would allow us to use the more easily accessible trails. After we had been hiking for a little while, we came to a split in the path. One path was an open staircase like formation made out of boulders and small trees. It looked to have been beaten down by the many feet that had traversed the route and looked to be the optimal way to reach the peak. On the other hand, path two was almost vertical in places, and cut through ominous caves and small openings. Trees with limbs bare from use as handholds also littered the side of this path, telling that it required a person to be nimble and flexible to ascend it. Not wanting to exert ourselves to much we decided on taking the more well traveled trail, and began to pick our way up the natural stairway. As we navigate the trail, I notice that the conditions are getting worse the higher altitude we attain. Finally, after an hour and a half of climbing and crawling we have reached the peak of the mountain. It is rather bare, and mostly made up of a large hunk of rock that connects the varying peaks. My father goes around in search of a way that we could get to an even higher level on the side of the cliff we are perched on. After a few minutes of waiting, he hollers that he has found what looks like a plausible route. I scurry over to investigate, and find that what he has found is filled with loose boulders and stones, and has a small trickling stream running its length.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “Uncle” Pete Aidan Klein Many people might be able to say that they have had a person in their life that they know as an “Uncle,” but few people have had the same experiences that I have with “Uncle” Pete. “Uncle” Pete has known my dad since they were both young, and over the years they have kept a good relationship. Pete started to work for my dad almost 25 years ago and has been doing so ever since. Because Pete never got married or had children, my sister and I were basically his children. As a baby, he was there to help my parents, and keep us busy. As we got older he found my sister jobs and helped me out with many projects. Because Pete was mechanically inclined, he taught me about working on cars, and has been helping me and my dad work on our 1972 Datsun 240z. Pete grew up in Newton, MA in the 1960s, and 70s right down the street from my father. My father’s best friend, and now business partner, David Weis had twin brothers, and one’s best friend was Pete. Although they knew each other, they were not close friends. Pete’s family consisted of his other, father, sister, and brother. His parents were born in China, and immigrated before Pete was born. While Pete attended high school in Newton, his Brother died from cancer. Though this was a sad time for his family, he became a stronger person. After graduating UMass Amherst, he started many different restaurants and coffee shops that didn't do very well. His father loved food and owned many restaurants. This inspired Pete to love food and get into the restaurant business. In his late 20s, he decided to join my father in his Athletic Club business. He became the manager of the Newton gym and is the manager of the new Wellesley Gym. Throughout Pete’s life, he never got married or had kids, which made me and my sister the closest people to kids he had. When my sister and I were babies, he would help my parents by changing our diapers. Pete’s mechanical skills have helped me learn about cars. In 2013 my Dad, Pete, and I went to Monterey, CA for the Monterey Car Week, and we bought a 1964 Ford Galaxie 500XL. This car was the first antique car that my Dad and Pete had owned. We participated in rallies and continued to work on it. In 2015 we sold it. We were sad to see it go, but in the 2 years we had owned it, Pete had bought two other antique cars, and we had bought one. The two cars Pete bought needed little work, but the one that my father and I bought needed much more work. Over the summer my dad and I have been working on it, while Pete has been teaching us many things and helping us do it. Since I was born Pete has always been there as a second father. From helping my family while we went through tough times, to helping me with something I love, he has always been a tremendous support.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Rainy Day Jimmy Chey Has your life ever changed so dramatically because of just one single event? Such experiences can have a positive or negative effect on you. A few years ago, on a rainy day, I experienced a dreadful day that could have destroyed my life. North Korea was about to attack South Korea. The attack was imminent and my family knew about it. This wasn't public knowledge, however we were aware of the danger because one of my dad's friend in the U.S. Military told my dad to send his family to safety. What began as a normal day where it seemed nothing could have happened, but something almost changed my life. This war could have torn my life apart, in turn making me suffer through something in which I was not prepared for, nor something that I would probably ever be. I would have had to leave my friends and family behind only to let them die, and they would haunt me and torture me in my dreams. I remember that it was a casual Sunday morning in July. I also remember waking up late and just lying on my bed with my eyes half open, gazing at the sunlight coming through my window. After a few minutes I made myself some toast with strawberry jam and texted my friend. We planned on meeting at a movie theatre in Gangnam. I told him to buy the tickets because I was going to buy the food. Once I knew that he received the message, I took a cool shower and got dressed. I can even remember the drive to the theatre. It was turning cloudy, and the clouds started covering the sky. It was relevantly quiet for some reason, and people also looked depressed. When I got to the movie theatre, and saw my friend, my smile returned. We went into the theatre, and I bought some food to keep us busy during the movie. We watched a movie called Inception, starring Leonardo Dicaprio. In Inception, Dicaprio can get into people's dreams, and he does so for various reasons. However in the dreams, he is constantly chased and disturbed by his deceased wife. When she took her own life, the police thought he was guilty of killing her so he was unable to return to America, and he had to leave the rest of his family. After we watched the movie, we came out to say goodbye and headed our own way. The second I stepped outside, I realized that it was raining. It was weird because when I saw the weather forecast that morning it said it was going to be sunny for the whole day. Thinking that it was a simple error from the weather satellite I decided to ignore it. By the time I got home, the thick rain cloud had finished covering the sun or whatever portion that was remaining. It was dark and wet, as if the world was coming to an end. I ran toward the front door, trying to avoid the rain as much as possible. I got changed into more comfortable clothes, and started playing Xbox. I was playing a game where I was deployed in a rainy forest to extract an intel which turns out that a nuclear war was about to happen. It was so intense, I played for hours yet I didn’t realize it. I didn’t even realize that my dad came back from work. Everyday when he comes back from work, he comes into my room and hugs me and asks me how my day was. However today, he didn’t even say “Hi” to me. Just when I decided not to think about it because it wasn’t a big deal, I heard my mom's voice call my sister. Shortly after, she was calling for me too. I ran up to our parents’ room, only to find out that something was wrong. First, I thought I was in trouble, and I was dying to figure out what I did, but it turns out it was something much more serious. It was about life and death, about leaving Korea, and disconnecting relationships. My dad informed us of the danger we were under. He told us that recently, the tension between the U.S. and South Korea against North Korea had intensified, and war was imminent. He also told us about the army general who informed him, and that he would be staying behind to fight. I attempted to change his mind, but later I realized that his patriotism and character was too strong to change. Lastly, he informed us that we will be going to California, where numerous friends of my parents lives. He insisted, or should I say made us get ready quickly. He wanted us to leave as soon as possible but unalarmed, before the whole country knew about it. I knew that I

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ had to keep this news private, and I shouldn’t tell anyone. If I tell someone, that person will tell another, and so on. Even though it is a person who I trust the most, I should keep it private. However, one side of me wants to alarm the whole nation. To alarm them, and to give them a chance to live. That night felt like the longest night of my life. As I lay awake tossing and turning, I couldn’t stop thinking about my dad, and everyone who I would be leaving behind. I curled up under my covers and tears dripped down my cheeks. Yet, through crying, I eventually fell asleep. The next morning, my mom woke me up and told me that the situation had been resolved and we didn’t have to leave. It is always important to appreciate small things that we take for granted, because those small things may be what make your life better and they can be taken away in a split second. Luckily, even though we didn’t have to leave our home or go to war, this rainy day still changed my life. It helped me realize that life is truly a rollercoaster. There are ups and downs to it, and as a person who doesn’t enjoy riding one, I hate the feeling I get when I am going downhill. However, when you persevere and overcome the downhill, you will soon be on the ground and safe. This day almost led to a downhill ride that could have lasted for years. Even though it didn’t, it taught me that things that once seemed impossible can happen, and that we should be ready for the ride and not take anything for granted. El J ardín (The Backyard) Andres Kaneb The dead tree in the corner of the backyard is something that seems larger than life. It towers over any other tree around us. The presence of the tree is important to the traditional Mexican backyard, which includes a massive area of grass and a palapa, a hut covered with straw and hay. One picturesque day I stopped to admire the tree, in the midst of a family soccer game. While gazing at the tree, a cloud of smoke permeated the backyard, I realized the barbeque had started. Everybody was laughing and kicking the soccer ball having a great time. I didn’t want that moment to ever end. However, I quickly reminded myself that I would be back the following Sunday afternoon bonding with my relatives. The backyard acts as a catalyst for our family every Sunday afternoon. This is just one of the handful of memories that I hold close to my heart involving my favorite spot, the backyard. The backyard is one of the few places where I can forget about all the problems and stress in my life, and relax. Over the course of my life I have spent an uncountable number of hours at my grandparents’ house. My grandparents live in a large city in northern Mexico called Monterrey. They live in a sizeable house located inside the city, fortunately out of harm’s way from the insecurity of Monterrey. They bought the house thirty years ago and have lived there ever since. There have been few major changes to the house besides a playset located outside in the backyard. The house has the perfect amount of accommodations for a family of five, and a maid. Over the years relatives and friends have been invited by my grandparents to stay when they need help or a place to stay. There are three main places in the house where I hold dear memories; the kitchen, my grandparents’ bed, and the backyard. The house may not be in the greatest condition, but I have created the happiest memories to substitute for the quality. However, I find the backyard closest to my heart. It is equipped with a play set, a few lounge chairs, a grill, and a dining set underneath a palapa. The palapa which has been used by multiple generations over the course of many years. We have had Sunday lunches, birthday parties, first communion parties, and most activities in the backyard. One of my fondest memories in the backyard is learning how to ride a bike. I was about five when my family taught my cousin and me how to do so. I still remember my heart beating out of my chest and the bruises all over my body from repeated falls. Once I was able to ride the bike my family laughed

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ hysterically with joy. It is one of my proudest achievements, to this day, to have learnt how to ride a bike before my cousin, which is associated with the backyard. Another milestone I reached in that backyard was learning how to start a grill. I was around the age of eleven when my grandfather offered to teach me how to start the grill. I was always fascinated by his nonchalant ability to grill steak oblivious to the dangers of the fire in front of his face. It took me a couple times until I got an understanding of how to start a fire. It was one of the most sentimental moments I have shared with my grandfather. These are just a few of the memories that I will never forget that occurred in that backyard that made it so important to me. I was exposed to every aspect of Mexican culture in my grandparents’ backyard. Not that they are particularly traditional, however they have opened my eyes to the exquisite aspects of the culture. My grandfather and grandmother are from small towns in Mexico which are seeped in tradition and culture. They have given me food from all around the country, ranging from sugar straight from the cane to the spiciest chilies where you feel you have to keep on eating so you don’t feel the pain! They have exposed me to Mexican music, food, traditions, holidays, and language. All of these experiences have given me another perspective of the culture that I will take with me for the rest of my life. As I wrote this essay, I realized that I learned more than life lessons and essential life skills in that backyard, I learned the meaning of love and family. All the rainy afternoons under the palapa hearing my grandmother talk about her experiences as a kid or hearing thunder and running for my life towards my grandfather. I realized that I will always have my family, and that backyard will be my “special place” no matter what happens to me or my family. I Wish it Never Happened Felix Cutler I wake up to the sickening sounds of guns I see my good friend dead, drowned in his own blood envision a family who stand at their door waiting, for their loved ones to open it I wish it never happened I wake up to see innocent men strangling each other The ones who I once called friends, are now up in the sky I am guilty of taking someone's life One more person to be alone I wish it never happened Once I open the pages I feel like I am trapped in cages Discovering something new is like getting stabbed with a knife Waiting for the wife to strike I wish it never happened

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Beach Teddy GemmellHughes When I walk through the beach club onto the warm sand, I feel the slight burn on my feet. The small waves of the ocean cascade onto the shore. The floating raft is bobbing up and down in the waves. I take off my shirt and run as fast as I can into the water. My skin feels a tiny burst of cold as I immerse myself in the mysterious water . The salty water gets on my lips and a little gets in my mouth, and although I do not swallow it, I swish it around my mouth. Once my whole body is fully submerged, I am at peace. This short time underwater is unique no noise, no distractions, just me and the water. Opening my eyes is something that I have always done. I look down on the seaweed that sways in the ocean like trees in the wind. When the light hits the minnows in the right way, they shimmer underwater. I take my time and do not rush when swimming. The raft is a 15 by 10 foot floating wood and foam structure. The deck has a scratchy, astroturf carpet material to prevent kids from slipping. There is a “no diving” sign in faded white paint on the front of the raft. I reach up cautiously for the handles of the metal ladder. I am careful to avoid the slimy algae on the bottom steps. I hoist myself out of the water and on to the raft. I feel the cool breeze on my body and I am panting after the long swim. I sit there usually for a long time. Sometimes with a group of friends or just one or two. The raft is a place to socialize in many ways. It is a great place to just relax and talk but also it is fun to play games. Exciting games of Shark( which is just tag but in the water) and king of the hill are always being played. On a good day, I will be out there for hours. By the time i’m back on land, my eyes are killing me because of all the salt water. When there are big waves, all of my friends and me are out on the raft jumping of the raft and body surfing. There is always something to do at the raft and that is why I love it so much. Dictionary Prompt Rap Gabriel Kendja You didn’t need to further exacerbate the situation, by disrespecting all the members of the organization. I know you sittin’ with your head in your hands, clearly in frustration, sorry for mistaking you for being the media’s next teen sensation. You can dance, you can sing, and you can ball but sometimes one man just can’t have it all. I mean like really brother, what did you expect, of course you were going to get beat by the girl who was smooth with the African dialect. She had more determination, sitting in her room ripping up scrapbooks, head filled up with perturbation. Wondering, wondering, “ am I ever going to accomplish one of my dreamed feats?” while you were pondering, pondering, at 2:00 am around these streets. You decided to take life as a fool beating the dead horse, beating the dead mule. You decided to go for her background, but her soul, her passion, her lyrics took you down. Well her perturbation paid off, it made you vulnerable, uneasy, soft. Made you turn your life around, turned you from a barking pitbull to simply a silent hound.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ March On and On Nicholas Gabrieli October 23, 1943 We march on and on, Backs aching from heavy packs, Boots stuck in the mud, Bones weary. A Karabiner cracks, Followed by the inevitable dull, muted, thud. But we march on and on. A boy. I see him through the foggy mist, Blond, freshfaced, skin pallid from disease, hands twitching, clutching his gun. Then, a quick shot at an enemy uniform. Again, the dull, muted, thud. As he dies, His face contorts into first, surprise, then, terror, lastly, emptiness And for a second, I see my brother in his face. But was it really him? My brother? No. It couldn’t have been. He’s waiting at home for me to return. So we march on and on. Such things are not to be dwelled on. We are but boys, Wearing boots too big. So we simply march on and on, In silence.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Lionel: Hero, Inspiration, Father Max de SaintExupery Imagine yourself in an office waiting room on the seventh floor of one of the many skyscrapers in Hong Kong. You’ve been waiting on a bench for your job interview to begin. Then, in the middle of writing a text, you are told that it is your turn to enter your possible future boss’ office to begin the interview. As you walk down the hallway, worry fills every crevice of your mind, reminding you of your slim chances of succeeding. As you enter the office, you notice a middle age, average height man in a business suit working away on his laptop. The boss. The man who could soon be in charge of you. Negative thoughts fly through your head, beginning the process of stress and lowering your chance of success. The man notices you and whilst getting up, he cooly extends his hand for a handshake while saying “nice to meet you” with a slight French accent. As you grasp his hand, you look into his gentle, blue eyes. The eyes of Lionel de SaintExupery, the eyes of my dad, the very man who taught me to enjoy physical activity, love of learning and helped shape my unique character. Lionel de SaintExupery was born on April 27th, 1966, in Paris as the 4th child of my grandparents Phillip and Christine de SaintExupery and was raised alongside my 3 uncles, Christophe, Stephane and Vincent, and my aunt Soline. As a child, he attended the Henry IV school in Paris. At the age of 20, my dad attended the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Ecommercial (HET) in 1986, and later to Wharton at which he attended from 1991 to 1993. My dad applied for his first job as a Management Consultant for Boozallen & Hamilton and worked there two years before attending Wharton and later found a new job as an Investment banker at Lehman Brothers for 13 years. My dad left in 2006 and decided to found his own corporation called CDIB Capital International Corp, with a main goal of generating superior riskadjusted returns on their private equity investments and as of today, CDIB has invested in over 40 companies. In 1994, my dad first met my mom Jinus de SaintExupery (born Doroudian) whilst in New York. My mom and my dad were finally married on July 25th, 1998, in Dordogne, France. 3 years later, my mom gave birth to me in 2001 and later gave birth to my sister Amber two years later. The first major way my dad has influenced me in my life was his numerous attempts to encourage me into enjoying physical activity. When I used to live in London, there used to a small park that was only five minutes away. My dad, who was always fond of the outdoors and tired of seeing me read all day, would say “Hey Max! Do you want to go play at the park?” However, I was a bit lazy back then and could only yell out a lazy “Noooooo ” As I got older, I was forced to go to the park, and was rather surprised to find out how much fun it was to kick around a football with my best friends, Charlie and Ramsey (two twins whose parents were great friends with my dad). Around the age of seven, when I had been living in Hong Kong for only two years, my dad had signed me up for weekly tennis lessons. For some children, being able to learn with a coach for one hour every Sunday would be a gift but for someone as disinterested as I was, it was like going to school. This negative attitude whenever I had an activity spanned through six years and multiple other sports: football (as in soccer), swimming, kick boxing, baseball and golf. Now that I’ve matured, I realize that the activities were blessings and encouragement from my dad to go outside the house and play with him, something that he surely did a lot more in his youth than I have in mine. Nowadays, I only have tennis and golf lessons, but regularly go down with my dad to play any sport that he wants me to try. So far, we’ve tried tennis, golf, ping pong and occasionally wrestled (all of which I’ve lost at). Most incredibly of all, I feel relieved to throw, kick or return a ball instead of bored like I had been for so long. I still am unsure if it’s testosterone or if I’m getting more fit, but whatever it is, I believe my dad had encouraged that part of me to develop. A nother major way my dad has influenced me was by aiding me in academics and possibly beginning my love of education. It all started when I had just moved to Hong Kong and was beginning to speak English. My dad, wanting me to speak french like everyone else in his family, attempted to give me daily 30 minutes lessons on French vocabulary and read me french bed time stories at night. Even though I truly started learning French when my dad enrolled me at FIS (French International School) when I was five years old, I can acknowledge my dad’s efforts to kickstart my linguistic skills before I entered the educational system. During my years at FIS, I rarely struggled in my subjects and whenever I did, my mom was always behind me to see what I needed to do. Then, it all changed when I entered middle school. For me, the transition from primary to secondary was hard enough and the fact that I was a year too young for my class made it harder. Instead of consulting with my mom, I decided to ask my dad if he could help organize myself and to my surprise, he helped answer my homework, and aided me in creating a schedule to a level similar to how my mom did it. Ever since then, I’ve usually come to ask my dad if he could help me out in school and usually, everything ends up fine. Despite rarely having gone to any of my parentteacher meetings, my dad seems to understand my academic work every time my gradebook ends up in his hands. Instead of scolding me on anything I could’ve done better

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ on, he congratulates me on what I’ve done well and encourages me to continue my effort. For someone who I’ve rarely seen come to any of my schools, he has tremendously encouraged me to strive to do better. The final major way my dad has influenced me is how his actions with me have shaped my likes. Whilst we were living in London, my dad used to take me to Museum of Natural History every weekend. Exposing me to the intriguing world of biological science sparked an interest in my developing mind that still lingers today: The love of animals, nature and science within the world around us. He also took me to the public library every day and he always found me running to the rows of bookshelves at the kids section in a manner similar to how an average child of the same age would run towards a football lying on a field. Today, I still love reading books of all sort, ranging from fiction to nonfiction, novels to comics and comedic stories to relativelysomber tales. My dad had also tried to teach me good manners at a young age since he had grown up in a proper family and was forced to be elegant. At first, I was naughty and usually forgot these lessons but after multiple groundings and TV bannings, I was eventually transformed to an wellmannered young man, especially in the presence of adults. At the age of seven, my dad sparked one of the biggest and most prominent personality traits in my brain: a love of pop culture. This all started when I noticed my friends playing their Nintendo DS on the schoolbus and in the same manner a child living now would beg for Apple’s newest Iphone, I asked my parents constantly if I could get one for my birthday. My mom thought that it might rot my brain and denied but my dad so kindly bought me one for my birthday that it felt like a gift from the heavens. When he later got me a Wii, I found playing with him so fun and that I wanted to learn more about video games and pop culture. I still wonder who would I be if my dad hadn’t gotten me my first console and if I wasn’t exposed to pop culture at such a young age. Would I be like a modernaddicted kid who despised anything over a year old? Would I only learn to embrace the wonders of older pop culture when in my teenage years? One thing I can say is that my dad had sparked it along with multiple key features that make up my personality and the person I am. Whenever I’m asked by someone who’s the most influential person I know, I usually respond with my dad and they say “just because he’s your dad doesn’t mean he’s that great.” To all those people, I say that a person that has loved and taken care of you your entire life is the most influential person of all. They have taught you to walk, talk and grow up. They have scolded, congratulated and consoled you. They may have even turned their back on you sometimes and you felt as if all of the cherished love they’ve ever given and received was worthless. But deep down, you know how much they mean to you and viceversa. I’ll never forgot everything my dad has done for me. I may forget my teachers. I may forget my friends. I may even forget other family members, but never will I forget him. If he has shaped me and inspired me to try sports, learn a language, read books or play videogames, I will never forget how influential and important he is to me.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Terrors of the Big Apple Venkat Vellanki Crowds of people shuffled in and out of the subway. It rattled violently on the tracks as the voice that blared through the speaker instructed everyone to hold on tightly. The subway came to a sudden halt, and I sprang forward. The doors flew open. My father’s hands grasped mine tightly as people shoved past us. We climbed the greasy stairs out of the subway station. Trash fluttered across the street. The lights shimmered in the foggy night. Rays of color from spotlights danced in the night sky. Taxis rushed down the street only to be stopped every thirty seconds, by stop lights. Honking and other sounds roared at me. Being the frightened young boy I was, every loud noise scared me. The horrible stories I was told at school ran through my head. LITTLE KIDS SNATCHED! HORRIBLE KIDNAPPERS IN NEW YORK! I scurried closer behind my parents, and my sisters trailed behind me. Countless signs covered every street corner. A sign, dripping in water, read ‘Times Square’. The billboards and electronic signs cast a reflection on the wet pavement. Small drops of water drizzled from the clouds above. Sharp sounds flooded my ears as a trumpet was blown right next to me. I jumped and hugged my mother. After realizing what had happened, I loosened my grip. We trudged onwards. My teenage sisters decided it was a good idea to split up and go shopping. My mother agreed, so the females left my father and me alone in solitude. It seemed the later it became, the more people woke up. Streets became packed. I began to believe that the stories I heard at school were all lies. All anxiety fled my mind and I was immersed in the beautiful city. I was in a concrete jungle with mesmerizing lights and unique personalities, everywhere. People dressed in Statue of Liberty costumes were the main attraction. A familiar ringtone came from behind. I glanced behind to see my father raise the phone to his ear. He greeted the man on the other side of the phone in a very lively manner. I continued to stare at the glowing signs around me. After staring at an interesting car for a solid two minutes, I turned around to notice that my father had disappeared like a magician. Fear rolled over my body. I turned around in circles, over and over again, hoping my father would reappear. But he did not. Tears began to rush to my eyes. I held them back and ran down the street hoping to find him. The stories of being snatched in New York began to flood my mind. My eyes searched for him everywhere, but could not find him. My black shoes were soaked from stepping in many puddles. After searching, for what felt like hours, I began to lose hope. I returned to where I had gotten lost and started to sob. Tears poured on to the blackened asphalt, and then I looked across the street. I peered at my sister through the window. I looked up and read the sign, Diesel. I waved aggressively but her view of me was blocked by hundreds of clothing racks. Remembering what my parents always told me, I looked both ways. I sprinted across the busy street and wiped away the salty tears. I sniffled as I jumped onto the other sidewalk. The open door greeted me as I dashed through. The store was quite large. Two floors, filled with clothes, and around five hundred people inside. I’d lost sight of my family again, but I was confident that they were hiding in the store. I scanned the whole first floor from the entrance but had no luck in finding them. I needed to get to my sisters and tell them that our father was missing. While walking by the ebony stairwell I spotted my sister’s dark brown trenchcoat. While climbing the steps of the staircase, I made sure to keep an eye on her. Once I reached the top, I noticed a familiar figure. It was my father. Anger and happiness collided inside me. I hurdled towards him and hugged him very tightly. His expression conveyed that he was confused. He believed that I was hiding in the clothing racks scattered around the store. Outrageous! I hadn’t known that I was lost in a city of over one million people. I shrugged off my anger, because I was relieved that I was finally reunited with my father and family, again.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ My Person of Influence Daniel Fadely “Alright Guys, I’m gonna be leaving for the next month to go to Boston to see my father. He is very sick. Your substitute will be Mrs. Baker so be good to her. ” He paused for a second, looked down and then looked back up and slowly said. “ I gotta go now because I may not have the chance to see him again so I need to go to see him now.” These were the words of Barry Mernin right before he left for Boston, Massachusetts to see his dying father. He was one of the smiliest people I had ever seen. He always seemed to be happy, no matter the odds, and despite being in various cases where the outcome was an inevitable loss he always smiled and moved on. Infact, I was not the best student in his class, but while far from the worst I still know that from time to time I would tick him off. He would look at me, smile and say, “It's alright just do better next time”. Mr. Mernin, academically, was not one of the best teachers that I had had, but despite this he still taught me a great number of life lessons that I would carry with me for many years to come. However his life lessons did not sway my parents’ view of him. The typical comments of him were something like “ You should have gotten full points for this” or, “He did not handle this situation very well.” These were just some of the few things that my parents would comment about Mr. Mernin. While both my parents quickly concluded that he was not a superb teacher. I had personally not decided what to think of him. He seemed to be such a pleasant person to be around, he always smiled, he always was understanding, he always tried to take time to get to know and help everyone with their problems. So I decided to observe him and his interactions with other people and teachers. Day in day out, problem after problem he still maintained his positive attitude towards everything that he did. Infact when he told us that he had to go to boston to see his dying father, he still managed to pull out a positive attitude. Even when all odds were stacked against him. By the time he had left for Boston I had only partially finished my analysis of his behaviour. The day he came back from Boston he started teaching. During Morning meeting he told us how the trip had gone. He told us that against all odds his father had infact survived the awful virus that had plagued him for several months and he directly said, “I thought that my father was gonna die, infact I was writing his eulogy on the flight over. But boys and girls remember one thing keeping a positive attitude is the key to success”. To me this showed that he was infact the person that I thought he was. This showed that Barry Mernin was infact someone influenced me throughout that year but for many years to come.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Hunger Lake Wyatt Ellison The wind is roaring in your ears, blocking out everything that you might otherwise hear. In the distance, peaks line the horizon, but the only one that matters is right below you. From hours of rockhopping, your legs are burning. The sun is almost blinding, forcing you to wear sunglasses. The small wispy clouds seem so distant, but you know in a few minutes an overwhelming storm could take over. A small furry face catches your eye, and as you turn your head you see the pika vanishing into the camouflaged rocks. There are no plants, just patches of lichen and rocks. The treeline lies thousands of feet below, for nothing can support much life this high up. When you turn your head back to the view, you notice the dazzling blue lake gleaming, almost crystalline from this height. There is a green field surrounding it, with a few grazing moose. The cirque cuts out most of the range, and you know that one misplaced step could mean certain death. This is complete wilderness, devoid of distraction and modern technology. This is the place I consider to be home. The mountainous wilderness of the Rocky Mountains is an indescribable place. There are peaks and valleys everywhere, decked with colourful flora and fauna. Below the tree level, pine trees and huge fields of grass meet the eye. Every few miles there is a giant cirque scooped out of the terrain, creating a huge ridge that you will be climbing up. On either side of the saddle, an impossibly steep slope leads to a peak that seems close. After hours of climbing, it turns out to merely be a small bump on the mountain, leading up to the summit. The peak is just rocks balanced on top of rocks. When you hop from one rock to the next, you fear they might break apart or start rolling down the steep incline of the mountain. If they do break apart, then the smell that rock fragments release will permeate the air for hours afterwards, a musty odor of burnt dust. After hours of fatigue, it all melts away as you step off the final boulder to see a cairn and bottle at the top of the peak. A cairn marks the way for hikers in the wilderness. They are placed on top of peaks to mark the true summit, not the many false peaks that line the mountain. Somewhere, hidden within the cairn, is a glass milk bottle, filled with rolls of paper and a golf pencil. On the paper those who peaked the mountain are supposed to write their name down with the date of their ascent. After you stand on the mountain for a few minutes, you go off to our own space on the summit. When you get back up, you gather your pack and look down one last time at the view below. Way off in the distance, you can see the azure landmark. I call it Hunger Lake for a list of reasons. First off, it is called Parika lake, which sounds rather like paprika, a spice. Then comes a saying that I frequently use, and always seems to be true. “Hunger is the best spice.” I always laugh a bit bitterly, as on backpacks I never get enough food, but the morsels that I do devour are the most delicious that I’ve ever tasted. I then came to the conclusion that Parika became paprika, and the spice became hunger. Therefore, I have Hunger Lake, the paradise of a lifetime. The wilderness of the Rockies is very important to me because it represents a primal feeling that every human has, buried deep down inside. I can go there and not only be myself, I can view the beauty of thousands of years of mountains untouched by modern technology. The closest thing to a city that never sleeps is a hacksaw, which I use to cut down logs in the way of my path. I cannot fully describe the feeling that I get when I am there, but this essay describes a portion of the elation and ecstasy I experience when I am hiking in the wilderness, depending on my own feet for travel, and immersing myself fully in the present. The past has cannot be changed, the future has yet to come, and the present is a gift. Backpacking in the mountains brings me to the present, and that is the change the peaks have wrought upon me.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Will Burbank Jr. Jake Elkins It was during this first family holiday that I can recall when I met the person who would change my life forever. This person was my cousin once or twice removed, and he was fourteen at the time with black hair and a pudgy build. Otherwise, there was nothing unique about this teenager in the slightest bit. As the years went on and I grew older, I came to know my cousin better and really liked the fact that he would play sports and music, and most of all, family charades with me. Eventually, though, he went off to college and I didn’t see him as much as I once had. When, I had just turned ten years old, Will came back to visit for a weekend. He had transformed. He was now over six feet tall and was huge with all of his muscles.. He would talk about the goals and dreams he had for himself and how focused he was on his future. Right after he was finished, I could see that my mom was very impressed with him. She asked him if he wanted to come spend afternoons at our house, once his college classes were through for the day, to help with me and my brother. With ease, Will accepted this job offer, and in what seemed like overnight, he became as much my brother as my cousin. At this time, I was a naive sixth grader who spent a lot of time figuring out how to get out of doing work. During this school year I watched as most of my grades slipped and I got my first (and last) C. Without even asking, Will didn’t just want to help me, but he took me under his wing and started to make me into his personal apprentice. I finished that year with strong grades, and a stronger understanding of selfdiscipline and the hopes that I had for myself. Interestingly, Will’s goal was not for me to earn straight A’s. He said that was the easy part, even if it didn’t seem so straightforward to me. Rather, Will was focused on teaching me things that he said are more important than just school and grades. After the first marking period I was pleased with my grades, but my real pride, was in the life lessons I had learned from Will. He taught me to be reliable, caring, and most importantly that family comes before everything. These were the words that Will lived by and after my seventh grade year these were the rules that make me who I am today. I not only feel comfortable in who I am, but I also have a sound sense of my own purpose in life. Will has been the best role model possible because he imparted to me the gifts of selfdiscipline, respect, and reliability in ways that my parents could not. He will surely be well respected and successful throughout his life. This success, will be measured not just in his professional accomplishments, but more importantly in the ways in which he makes people feel good about themselves and inspires them to measure their own worth through shared values like loyalty to family and friends, honesty, caring, and trustworthiness. These are the gifts that Will has given to me and I hope that one day I will become the kind of person who can inspire others in the same way.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ My Hero, My Sister Eddie Schwartz It was a cold, wet and cloudy day. My whole family was sitting under a tent at Miss Porter's school and I knew a big day was here. I was sitting towards the back, f acing the stage where all the seniors were eagerly waiting to walk across.The headmaster, in the center of the stage, awaited the seniors’ out stretched hands, with a heap of diplomas by his side. I had an aisle seat, but with my small body I was s training to look over the people in front of me. My father, beaming with excitement sat next to me. He held a yellow paper with all the names of the graduating seniors on it. I quickly scanned the paper for my sisters’ name. There, I spotted it! In bold black writing, Gwen Schwartz. I look towards the stage trying to catch of a glimpse of her, but to no avail. Finally, the booming voice of the headmaster starts to read the extensive list of the graduating students. My sister’s name was called and I spotted the brown haired, brown eyed young woman walk swiftly across the stage. The same person who changed my diapers and who told me endless stories. She shakes the headmaster's hand, received her diploma and walked to the other side of the stage. I realized that her journey through high school was now complete, and her journey through college would be over in a blink of an eye. In the little head of mine, I thought that our time together had come to an end, and that she would be on her own and no longer spend time with me anymore. I felt sad inside but at the same time exalted and proud of her. Gwen is the one of the most influential and intelligent people I know and has been a role model my whole life. My sister has taught me to dream big, to respect others and to persevere. She has long brown hair, five feet five inches, eyes the colour of brown and smooth white skin. When she was little, she and my parents moved to NH. Gwen attended Berwick Academy until 9th grade and then went on to Miss Porter's school. For college she went to Georgetown University. Throughout her school “career” she has been very successful, usually getting good grades and making lifelong friendships. Now she does website design for different companies and is working for H+ technology which is engaged in holographic technology. She has been very professional ever since she started working. This is something that I hope to achieve when I grow older. Gwen always wears nice clothing to work and in public because she likes to look intelligent and competent. Gwen always speaks up if something is wrong. She described to me an occasion that took place while she was working at H+. Gwen knew she wasn’t making the appropriate amount of money to live on, nor the right amount for her skills. Gwen went to the head of the company and explained the problem to them and they agreed that she should be earning more money. This is a skill everyone needs to have especially in the business world, but also in academics. In school, if you receive an unfair grade, then you need to be able to speak to your teacher or your advisor. Gwen has learned that when you advocate for yourself, you must make sure you do it in a polite manner. She is very articulate when she speaks, always getting to the point and always explaining clearly what she means . I hope to follow in her footsteps. Since there is an eleven year difference between me and her, Gwen is motherly t owards me and the foundation of my family. My sister has always been supportive, caring and an influence. I was born and adopted from Guatemala. Gwen was about 11 years old when I came into the family, and like any big sister, she has taken care of me since the first day. She has always helped with whatever problem I have had. If I needed help on homework she is there to help me. If I’m struggling in a class she will advise me on how to do better in that class. As any good sister she looks out for me, and tells me to do my best. She once said that “There are two ways of doing something, doing it first, or doing it the best.” She explained to me that even though something has already been done, you still have the ability to reconstruct and make it better no matter the obstacles. Her perseverance is admired by me a lot and I hope that I have the same persistence. Gwen is very independent and knows what it feels like to be able to take care of yourself without any help. She knew what it was

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ like to be away from home at an early age, and therefore, she has influenced me to go to sleep away camp for seven weeks during the summer and she encouraged me to go to boarding school in grade seven. Gwen has experienced both of these things before and wants me to have the same great experience as well. My sister is always hard working and respects hard work, but at the same time has time for many other things that she loves to do. She has many hobbies and doesn’t have many dislikes. She loves to draw, and has been a great artist since she was young. Gwen used to go on her computer and search up buildings to draw, or sketch a tree in the backyard. But something she especially loves to do is to cook. Whenever she is home she produces something wonderful which is one of the reasons why I’m always happy when she is home. My mother is a good cook as well but is not nearly as skilled as my sister. In addition to being an experienced artist, she is also very skilled at website design. Gwen knows what information to put on the website and where or which page to put it on. She knows how to market and sell her product by advertising and the information people are searching for. Gwen always loves hanging out with me, but ignores me when I’m annoying. If I ever do something I shouldn’t have, she doesn’t tell our mom or dad because she loves me and doesn’t want me to get into deep water with my parents. My sister was an only child, but ever since I came into her life she has been a caring and great role model. I want to do just as well as my sister did in school and in business. She worked hard and persevered. Her qualities of respect for others, hard work and perseverance a re all admired by me and I’m trying hard to e mulate them. My mother's way of parenting rubbed off on her which motivated Gwen into becoming a good big sister. Gwen is able to drive me to places and do fun activities with me that my parents wouldn’t normally do. We always joke around and do fun things when she is home. During those times I try to savor the moments that we have, since these occasions are getting rarer. Gwen has taught me to work hard in school, be articulate when speaking, advocate for myself and to be loving and caring. She is a huge part of my life, one that I will always appreciate and love. I think everyone needs a role model in his or her life and a person to aspire to be like, to follow in their footsteps and from whom to learn lessons in life. Starbuck’s Observational Writing Through the Senses Jose Hernaiz From the moment I entered, the rich flavor of chocolate permeated the space, I felt like if I was entering a chocolate factory. Then I heard a familiar sound, like a cart moving over a cobblestone street. It made me feel a sense of calm and relaxation. It reminded me of when I was walking down a tiny town in Spain where it was so peaceful. Whenever, I hear this creak sound, it takes me back to this place. Then, I opened my eyes and saw a lot of coffee beans in a glass container. I also saw Starbuck’s glasses in a wooden shelf. A bunch of sandwiches, pastries, etc, were behind the glass display case. When I was there, I ordered a caramel macchiato which is a cold drink. I taste the coffee and it fueled me up. It had a chocolate, milk and caramel aftertaste. The caramel swirled around the plastic cup creating a design in beverage. At the bottom, a concentrated amount of coffee sediment in a geological landscape and the milk on the top resembled the white clouds in the sky, but when I submerged the straw into the liquid it gained a light brown color. In conclusion, going to Starbuck’s was a great opportunity to get in touch with my senses and to get to know how much more creative I can be. And it reminded me of a tiny town in Spain with a beautiful landscape. Who would have thought that going to Starbuck’s would have brought me back to a quaint town in Spain.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Papa Frank Ethan DiTullio My father, Francesco Antonio DiTullio, paces back and forth across the carpeted floor, barely able to speak as the Patriots are about to lose to the Seahawks in the Super Bowl. Suddenly, Malcolm Butler intercepts the ball in the end zone, and the Patriots just cinch the Super Bowl. My Dad's booming voice echoes through the house with uncontrollable excitement. “They did it. They did it,” he bellows across the room while hugging me and everyone in sight. It was an amazing night, and my dad is an amazing dad. He has influenced me in various ways over my life. Without his positive influence, I would not be a wellrounded, confident and happy person. My dad was born and raised in Quincy, Massachusetts. He was raised by his mother, Regina and father, Angelo DiTullio, who were Italian immigrants. Additionally, he was strongly influenced by his Italian grandmother, Angelina, who also lived in their modest, white wooden house. My father has a brother Giacomo and a sister Donetta. Dad is a sixfoot tall white male with hazel eyes rimmed with laugh lines, thick chocolate brown eyebrows that move up and down especially when he is angry, a partly bald head, and an expressive face that captures his changing moods. His daily apparel consists of jeans, tshirts, and a watch. As a kid, he enjoyed playing stickball with his friends. He graduated from Archbishop Williams High School in 1984 and New York University College in 1993. My dad’s interests include watching, playing, and coaching sports. He relishes traveling, history, architecture, and, most of all, he treasures his wife, Trudie. Additionally, my dad dislikes the Yankees, Jets, or really any New York sports team. Furthermore, my dad does not appreciate bullies, Swiss cheese and losing. Like my dad, I despise losing; losing makes me feel aggravated, agitated, and annoyed. One year, my dad coached my baseball team, and we lost the championship. Needless to say, it was a glum night in the DiTullio household. Dad has many habits, both good and bad. Some of my dad’s habits are constantly forgetting to close the garage door, pacing all around the house, and, most of all, listening to loud TV. A few of my dad’s personality traits are a short temper, but he is also sincere, kind, loving, and, most of all, understanding. Currently, my dad is an at home dad. When he was younger, he worked at an ice cream shop called Steve’s Ice Cream and as a construction worker. He has also worked at WGBH, the local PBS television station, and as a photographer for Fenway Park. In his free time, my dad enjoys sports and cooking. His passion for these activities has influenced me in myriad ways. First of all, my dad was the first person who ever taught me to throw and catch a baseball. I recall playing baseball in the living room, a room festooned with lamps and an assortment of breakable objects. It was probably not the best place to play baseball, but my dad did not care. He patiently tossed the foam baseball back and forth with me, while I learned how to catch and throw. In addition, he taught me how to shoot, dribble and pass a basketball. Without my dad, I would not be as dedicated and as good an athlete. Moreover, he has changed me in many ways, pushing me to get better by making me practice. He is always there cheering me on while I’m playing sports. Another major way in which my dad has influenced me is in his love for cooking. Frank cooks dinner most nights. Not only does he cook dinner, but he also makes an incredible breakfast of homemade pancakes and waffles. He can cook a variety of foods which include Italian, Mexican, and American. He has taught me to cook many recipes. My favorites are desserts, such as brownies and homemade fudge. When we bake brownies together, the special, sweet smell of chocolate wafts through the house, making us all hungry. Nothing beats the warm, delicious taste of a brownie fresh out of the oven. My dad has influenced me in many ways. I could not have asked for a better father. He helps me when I need it, cheers me up when I am down, and is always there for me, no matter how foolish I may be. Without the positive influence of my dad, I would not be a wellrounded, confident and happy person.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Albert Dekin, My Role Model Abe Dekin The year was 1987, and my father, Albert Dekin III, was just starting his life. The recent Dartmouth graduate was living out of a garage, working as an intern for a small foreign relations company, and playing rugby on the weekends. Southern California was a big change from his childhood. Growing up all over the country, Al was used to being on the move. Upon graduating, his main priority was settling down, and finding a job. He found a job working at a small foreign relations company, but he had come to realize it wasn’t what he was looking for. 1988 brought Albie (the nickname coined by his sisters) a job as a salesman at IBM. He gradually climbed the ranks at IBM, but the passion was elsewhere, his calling was rugby. Playing rugby at Dartmouth and serving as captain of the team stirred his thirst for rugby, since graduating he longed for the game. When he was offered an executive position at IBM, one of the most prominent and promising companies of the time, he refused the promotion. Surprising his friends and family (and himself a little) he instead joined the U.S.A national rugby team. He tells me that quitting IBM to pursue his passion was the best decision he had ever made. It was 1988 and Al Dekin had his whole life ahead of him. Albert, my father, was born in Lansing Michigan in 1965. My grandfather was just finishing graduate school as he was born. Al’s family relocated a lot during his childhood, living in Michigan, New York, Alaska, then finally back to New York, where his family and him settled down. My father married my mother, Sarah, on May 31st 1997. Soon after they had a family, consisting of myself, and my two brothers. My father means a lot to me because he has directly shaped who I am today. He has trained me how to be a man. Believe me, with three boys the parenting life isn’t an easy one. My dad has constantly been there for me since I was born. He was there to change my diaper, drive me to practice, and to pay for the necessities I take for granted. Such as food, a roof over my head, and most importantly my education. My dad has supported me through the good and the bad. My father has pushed me hard to persevere through what I believed was impossible. Also, he has prepared me to have the foresight to stand back, and let others fight their own battles. Albie has taught me everything I know today, ranging from baking pancakes, to lifting weights. Albie has shown me what the important qualities make up a true man, such as perseverance and respect. I don’t believe I’d be the person I am today without my father. Sadly, I see examples of kids missing their fathers and it pains me to see that. Everyone deserves a father. I am grateful to have my father in my life. When I was 12, my father and I rented out a cabin on the edge of the woods, next to a swimming hole. On the trip we fished in the nearby river, and climbed mount Moosilauke, a 7.6 mile hike roundtrip. I distinctly remember this trip because my dad and I talked a lot about life and and other important topics, such as friendship, family, pride, and countless others. We both had a lot of fun that weekend, and I took a lot away from that trip. These moments that I will cherish forever. I am forever thankful for my father to have raised me to be the determined, and respectful person I am. I am glad my father has taught me to follow my passions, and to always be kind to others. My father takes pride in my brothers and I. He is a proud father, husband, and man. He loves his work, and still makes time to play rugby with his old friends. I will never forget the values my dad has passed on to me. Albie is a great father to my brothers and I, and a great role model to everyone who comes into contact with him. Albert Dekin, the pro athlete and successful businessman, is a very proud, passionate man. Influencing me to be the same great man he is today, but much more handsomer.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Fun House Ethan JohnsonLeComte It was a cold, cloudy day and nobody seemed to be around. My car had just broken down, and I, along with two friends were stranded in an unfamiliar and peculiar place. The gray sky offered a juxtaposition to the dark, leafless trees. We slowly opened the car doors, and stepped outside, our feet splashing in the shallow puddles. I scanned the area for any sign of life, and saw a faint light in a house far away. After a brief discussion, my friends and I decided to head for the house. We set off, and walked a few miles, but suddenly, the terrain turned from pavement to rough pebbles and leaves. The sound under my feet was strange as I walked, a mixture of the crunch of coarse pebbles and the swishing of wet leaves. We finally saw a row of lanterns leading to a depressedlooking wooden house. The construction of the house was hasty and of poor quality, while the color was a faded mustard yellow. There was an antique station wagon on blocks in the driveway. All of a sudden, a vicious looking gray dog with a matted coat sprung from the shadows, snarling and foaming from its mouth. It was restricted by a chain, but I could still feel the tension between my friends. Slowly, we approached the mossy concrete steps, and I reached for the doorbell. Just as I was about to ring it, the patchy screen door swung open, revealing the interior of the house. The interior resembled a rundown carnival, with portraits of clowns and other scenes of an amusement park decorating the walls. In the kitchen there were pots and pans scattered randomly on the floor and countertops. There was a cage of four chirping canaries hanging from the sink’s faucet. It was strange that there were live animals on the premises, but nobody seemed to be taking care of them. Every step we took in the house was answered by a creak in the floorboards, but also a faint sound resonating from the basement. It sounded like bells and music, but slightly eerie. I approached the basement door, and reached for the doorknob, but then I saw someone in the mirror, and it wasn’t me.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Soldier Blane Zhu A Soldier. A March. A Front. He crawled, upon the sickening muck of no man’s land, where perished souls lay dissected in bits. Knowing that a shell was capable of bringing this foul fate, if he slackened to break free of the intolerable tension, He crawled. The Soldier. The Front. The Battle. He lay, when thunder shook, rumbling in distance, but the lighting arrived in no time. Knowing that he would be struck by this blast of shootingstars, if he disobeyed and peeped out of the hole of subsistence, He lay. The Soldier. The battle. The bombardment. He ducked, for at the desperate moment, he sensed. The terrifying surge of deathdefying brightness. Knowing that when the yellowish light reached his soul, which would turn in any moment to an eternal sea of darkness. Wishing, begging, clinging for hope, He ducked. But then it all went blank. All faded. Faded. Into nothingness.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ My Greatest Influence Of All Time Stephen Bruning The biggest influence in my life has been my grandfather, Stephen John Alphas. He was born in 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Kathryn, and father, John, were both Greek immigrants. They worked hard to raise their four children. Stephen grew up in the South End with two hardworking parents. He attended Boston Public Schools and then Boston Latin. When he was in high school , the family moved to Springfield, Massachusetts where his parents started an ice cream shop. Stephen worked in the store and attended Wilbraham Monson Academy. My grandfather grew up during the Great Depression and served during World War II. During the 1930’s, jobs were tough and it was very hard for his mother and father who both worked one and two jobs to support a family of six. My grandfather often came home to an empty apartment. He has told me how he did not like this. Meals were “one pot” meals, boiled dinners. At eighteen, he was drafted into World War II. Stephen served in the U.S. Army and took part in the DDay landings. When my grandfather returned home from the war, he earned his college education from the GI Bill. A lot of people and events influenced Stephen Alphas’s life. His sister pushed him go to Boston Latin where he found his study skills. When, he was a teenager his older brother John found out about a caddy camp in Poland Springs, Maine and signed him up. This is where my grandfather saw a different style of life away from the city, and he felt he grew from the fresh air. When my grandfather was in the war, he saw how the soldiers with college degrees got treated better than soldiers without college degrees. This really influenced him to go to a local college (AIC) and finish in three years. The army had matured him, and he had the drive to work hard and get good grades. His chemistry teacher recommended him for Boston University Medical School. Stephen got in and studied cardiology. Growing up during the Great Depression was very tough. When my grandfather was young, sometimes he was unfocused because his parents were always out working. He was alone a lot of the time so he had trouble getting his studies completed. He even stayed back a year in elementary school because he was really behind. This is when his older sister cracked the whip on him and started to make sure he got his work done. Stephen was then able to get into Boston Latin. Working after school in the ice cream shop and on weekends as a teeenager was a must. He could not go play with friends or play sports. His father was very demanding and had a temper if work was not done correctly. This made him sad. Overall, my grandfather is a great man and has influenced me to work hard and never give up. He has also exposed me to many great things like hockey, skiing and golf. We have taken many fun trips together and he has always been there for me giving me guidance and awesome advice. Hopefully, he will be as proud of me as I of him.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Childhood Memory Collins Billhardt It was mid July and my dad, sister and I were driving up to Quimby's, where we had rented a lakeside cottage. We pulled into what we called “The Long Dirt Road,” which was in fact a long dirt road. The gravel and dirt crunched beneath our car’s tires as we drove past an alluring lake. When we finally arrived, it was just past four and we started to unpack our belongings into the small cosy Vermont style cabin. After we finished unpacking, I went outside to check out my surroundings, and realized a gray overcast had blocked the sun. We walked along the dusty path leading up to the main building. Inside, it was warm and snug as people came and welcomed us to Quimby's. We played many games and activities with everyone from the twelve cottages along the dusty road. By that time it was getting late and it had started pouring. My dad, sister and I ran from the main building to the clubhouse, which was about 100 feet away. The ancient clubhouse contained a pingpong table, shuffleboard court and many games and activities that could be played in the daytime. We played many games of shuffleboard and pingpong until my sister and I got sleepy. The door creaked open as we stepped into the pouring rain. We pulled our jackets over our heads and sprinted back to the cabin as fast as we could. Everything was soaked with rain, but we were all laughing as we warmed up in front of the stone fireplace. The clouds shone through the window as we arose from our deep slumber. The land around our house was drenched from the rainstorm the night before. Despite this, we decided to go on a hike with many other people from Quimby’s. I put on warm clothing and hiking boots to prepare for the journey to the top of the mountain. We drove up to a mountain just off the main road, and got ready for the hike. The path was wet and slippery, but it did not stop us. We were determined to get to the top. In addition to my dad, sister and me, there were about fifteen other people on the hike. We started up the mountain; the dense foliage provided shade from the sun. About halfway up, my sister slipped and fell into the mud. The brown muddy figure arose out of the puddle, even more angry than before. You could barely see her clothes, as an opaque coating of mud covered her shirt and pants. The only recognizable feature was her two eyes popping out of the muddy silhouette. She was very annoyed that we had to go on the hike in the first place, and slipping into the mud pushed her over the edge. My dad stayed and helped her out, but I kept going with one of the counselors. A couple of minutes later, we emerged from the trees and were met by a large boulder. From the rock, you could see almost twenty miles away into Vermont’s luscious forests and towering mountains. The sight in front of me was one I would never forget, and the journey up the mountain was just as memorable. Although we do not go to Quimby’s anymore, the unforgettable memories of spending special time with my dad and sister will live on in my head. The colossal rain storm and the amusing hike will always remain an entertaining moment during my early childhood.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Life Changing Library Trips Cole Zetterquist “Be my slave!” That one sentence caused Debbie to halt the car dead in its tracks. Just by looking through the rearview mirror, I could tell that she was horrified by what I had just said. She looked down, then pulled the car into a tight uturn, heading back the way we came. The original plan was to get ice cream at Dairy Joy, but I knew that wasn’t happening anytime soon. For five or so minutes, Debbie drove in complete silence. I must’ve said, “Debbie?” about fifteen times before she pulled into the Weston Public Library parking lot. I cocked my head to one side in confusion when I saw the vintage brick building. We sauntered inside, and she told me to sit down and wait where I was. Then, she powerwalked back with ten different picture books. They were all about slavery. She looked deeply into my eyes, her brown pupils emotionless, and stated, “We are going to stay here as long as it takes for us to read each of these books twice. We’re also going to do this tomorrow, and the next day.” I pouted when she said this, but I knew I wasn’t going to win any argument with her. Instead, I just nodded, and picked up the first book in the pile. The title read Rosa Parks: Hero of our Time. For the next three days, I spent hours reading about slavery, segregation, and how horrible it was. Debbie and I would have extremely long and detailed discussions about the topic, and how it took part in shaping what America is today. I was six then, and I barely knew the concept of slavery. But Debbie didn’t let my age be an excuse for hiding me from the terrifying truths of history. She taught me that three small words make a huge impact, and I have been extremely cautious of anything I say ever since. She is such a huge influence for me, not only because of those library trips, but for many other reasons, too. Debbie didn’t have a marvelous childhood, but she made the best of her poor conditions when growing up. She grew up in Michigan, one of seven siblings. Debbie used to have seven, but one of them unfortunately died of brain cancer. She attended a subpar public school system. However, Debbie always wanted to learn and understand things. She told me that whenever she had trouble with a subject, she would go to her teacher(s) and request practice worksheets on top of what she was assigned that night. If Debbie was going to be successful, she had to have a full perception of everything, so by asking for more work, she was improving her learning skills. Her family neither understood nor supported her desire for an education. They just expected Debbie to take care of herself, but she didn’t let her family get in the way of receiving an education. Whenever someone doesn’t support one of my dreams, I think of how Debbie didn’t ever let that stop her, and I keep persevering. However, as far as Debbie knew, college wasn’t even an option. Little did she know, an invite for dinner at her friend’s house would change her life forever. During the meal, her friend’s mother asked Debbie where she wanted to go to college. When Debbie said that she wasn’t attending college, her friend’s mother’s jaw practically dropped to the floor. She motioned for Debbie to come with her to the family’s computer, where she encouraged Debbie to apply to a community college, which she successfully did. This story of her’s influenced me to listen to other people, and at least consider their ideas. My parents met Debbie, who was endorsed by our good friends, when she came to babysit their children. My parents confidently decided to hire her for the night. I don’t remember very much about the first time Debbie came, but I do remember two things. I remember her dinner rules: sit square in your chair, chew with your mouth closed, and eat slowly because no one is going to steal your food. I was so confused. What’s ‘square in your chair?’ I discovered it meant to sit with your body facing forward. The second thing was her making me read to her. This has led to why I have always been so fluent in reading. Usually, a babysitter will read to the child, but it was the opposite with Debbie. She said, “Why would I read to you when it won’t improve your own reading skills at all? Anyways, you can get more out of the story if you read it yourself.” This

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ taught me early on that I can’t just expect most people to do things for me, when I can do that myself and actually learn something! This is one of life’s most important lessons I learnt from Debbie. One year, she took me to the Big E. The second I stepped into the fairgrounds, the scent of fried dough instantly filled my nostrils, beckoning me to locate its source. As I walked across the black asphalt, I looked hard for a ferris wheel, but the fair was so large that I couldn’t spot one for about ten minutes. When we finally discovered the Midway’s location, we bought sixty tickets for the rides. After trying many different attractions, I had about thirty tickets left, so I went back around to do a second round. Debbie just watched. I lost track of the rules, and went from one ride to the next. I did this without first checking in with Debbie, which was one of her most vital rules for the Midway. When she found me, she told me very clearly not to do it again. I apologized, and went on with my adventure. Of course, after a while, I forgot to check in again. When she found me, she just grabbed my arm, and walked away. You can tell that Debbie is furious when her lips are pursed together in a hard line, and her eyes are wide. As she was dragging me back to her car, I looked for the pursed lips, and had instantly found them. I was too nervous to speak. In the car, there was a lot of kicking and screaming, but I finally learned my lesson. Actions always have consequences, no matter what they are. From then on, I took Debbie’s rules as a demand, not a suggestion, which they weren’t. That day taught me that rules are never suggestions. This is another very important lesson from Debbie In fifth grade, I heard the news that Debbie was going to India for six months. I was extremely depressed, because I wouldn’t be able to see her for half a year! When my depression died down, I decided to find out what tasks she would be performing in India. She was volunteering to teach younger children there! When Debbie got to India, she commenced sending pictures of the wonderful country. Previously the photos I saw of India were of people in poverty and slums. However, Debbie sent us pictures of the beautiful aspect of India. She sent us pictures of the Taj Mahal, rolling mountains, and children playing cricket. These pictures taught me to only see the beauty in the world, not just ugliness. Debbie could’ve traveled to India to only notice the horrible aspects, but the first things that caught her eye were the exquisite parts. When I thought of who influences me, Debbie promptly came to mind. Her choices as a child, her good habits, and her loving ways are worthy to copy. She taught me that three words could be the beginning of a series of stressful events. She taught me that when someone tells you not to do something again, just don’t do it! There will always be consequences, and it doesn’t matter how big or small the consequence is. Another of her life lessons is that laziness will get you absolutely nowhere in life. Debbie does anything to support herself and her family, but lives a happy life nonetheless. Debbie is the only one of her siblings to actually make something of themselves, and they should really follow by her example. I know I have.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Mornings Alan Du “Never give up!” Grandpa shouted in his hoarse yet stubborn voice, “If you give up in such little challenges, what kind of trash will you be in the future?” Hearing his voice, I rapidly increased my pace. I knew that I couldn’t slow down. Despite the fatigue and pain, I kept running because I didn’t want to let Grandpa down. In the end, after finishing the ten laps which felt like a hundred, my exhausted body dropped to the track as if all of my bones had suddenly vanished. I struggled to look at Grandpa with my blurred vision. With a smile on his wrinkled face, he said, “Great job! Great job! This is the grandson I’m expecting. Now let’s go home and I’ll make you some breakfast.” Life changing mornings like this happened to me for many days. Grandpa is my greatest mentor, teacher and coach. Born in a small, poor town, he vigorously worked his way up into one of the biggest cities in China, and it shaped him into a wise yet stubborn man. Due to his personality, Grandpa was great at motivating me and changing my life, and without him, I definitely wouldn’t be who I am in this moment. Until I was in fourth grade, I practiced several terrible habits that made my life miserable for myself. Procrastination used to plague me like a cold. I often would wait until the last moment before the deadline was due, and then do the homework as if there was no tomorrow. Therefore, my homework was always either not finished or done hastily, and as an outcome my grades were awful. This resulted in failing almost every single test because the questions were all from the homework, which I never took seriously. I used to have a fixed mindset, so I gave up easily upon challenges. I had never attempted the practice problems in the homework or the tests because I presumed they were too hard for me. Also, physically, although I was one of the tallest and the most muscular people in class, I turned down every physical task my teachers gave me, fussing that I might mess up. Another byproduct of all these malicious mentalities was that I wasn’t able to make any friends and felt like the loneliest student in the school. My teachers desperately tried to change me at first. They tutored me, went through the wrong answers with me, and gave me advice. However, they eventually gave up on me, after seeing little progress. They thought I had little potential, and ignored me as I was not bothering my classmates. Students ignored me as well, as if I was just a ghost roaming around our campus. My parents were disturbed by my attitude and my performance in school. Until now, I can still remember my mom’s twisted face and her flaming eyes as her shrill scoldings pierced through my ears. Unfortunately, my parents’ efforts were useless, since I was never willing to share my problems with them. My parents almost sent me to a school for the disabled, when my grandpa, Yi Dong Wang, stepped in, saying, “I can change him”. I have come to learn that my grandpa was carefully observing me and devising plans that eventually turned my poor habits into beneficial ones. He had worked hard when he was young, so he believed that perseverance and the act of endeavoring are two of the keys to success. He loves running long distances, and finds it a great way to shape someone into a robust person that would push through every hindrance in life. He took me out every morning to run on my school’s running track for ten laps. Grandpa is my role model, so when he told me to run, I ran. Although painful, I pushed on, because I didn’t want to disappoint him. At times, it would be so painful that tears would roll down my face, but I didn’t stop, because I knew it was for my own wellness. After the tiring laps, I would see his genuine smile. Those were the happiest times. During our walk home, if happy and impressed by me, Grandpa would proudly share his stories with me as if he were a little kid that had just earned his first toy! Those stories were usually about the interesting things that had happened to him when he was young, and how his determination led him to success. These stories helped to inspire me. One day, he told me about the time he went out of his way to prepare for an interview for his dream job. He was chosen out of five hundred candidates, becoming the youngest employee of the company. Another time he told me about how he

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ accepted the almost impossible task of convincing the government of a new way of financing after all his colleagues had turned the job down. He completed that job despite all obstacles and was offered an immense promotion. Grandpa and I followed this routine everyday, even on days when it was pouring, and on days when snow covered every inch of the surface of our city. Eventually, his methods worked, and Grandpa brought about an enormous change in me. As Morrie Schwartz, a wise teacher and the main character in Tuesdays with Morrie had said, “the only way to learn a feeling is to actually go through them.” By running every morning for half a year and listening to motivational stories by Grandpa, I learned determination and what a growth mindset was, and I surprised everyone around me. I started doing homework the moment I received it, and played only after I finished. I’m not boasting, but I find I am actually pretty smart. When I discipline myself to study, my grades went up dramatically, and I received some of the best grades in my class. My teachers were so shocked that they thought at first that I cheated. After several tests with them observing me scrupulously for the entire time, they finally believed me and reluctantly moved me into honors sections. I was now willing to take the additional tasks that no one else wanted to do and soon became a useful helper of the teachers. I would move desks, clean hallways, and so on. Other students started to notice me, and soon I had made many friends due to my personality and my willingness to help them. I didn’t feel lonely anymore, and I experienced a taste of real happiness. “Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges.” Joyce Meyer. Without my grandpa's motivations and those intense but meaningful trainings, the spark deep inside me would never be ignited, and I would never be the person I am right now. Even though now we’re half the world apart, I still remember the lessons he taught me, and continue to apply them to myself. I know nothing is impossible if I try hard enough, so no matter how tough things are, I’ll try my best to make it better. When I grow up, I will also help others and change their lives, just like what my grandpa did in those mornings for me.

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ An Entrepreneur Trevor Simboli In 1938, an eight year old boy gets together with a neighborhood friend to ride bicycles in the cobblestoned streets of Boston's North End. After a while, one boy decides to let others “borrow” the bicycles, for a small fee, of course. With that act, an entrepreneur was born. But this is not just the story of an entrepreneur who achieved educational, business and philanthropic success despite his humble beginnings. This is a story about how one individual’s achievements changed people’s lives and the community around him. This story is even more special because this accomplished individual happens to be my grandfather. My grandfather, Anthony C. Simboli, has influenced me by his example of working hard, embracing creativity, being patient, taking advantage of educational and business opportunities, and in gratitude has given back to others. My grandfather is one of the most creative and hardworking people I know. As a young boy, he grew up in Boston’s North End, the eldest in a family of three boys and one girl. When he was eight years old, he built a homemade scooter out of a wooden board, and he also created a pair of roller skates. Upon receiving permission from his family’s landlord to keep his scooter and bicycle in the side basement entranceway of their building, 164 Endicott Street, he opened a “rental shop” where he would rent out his possessions for 2 or 3 cents. He recalled one particular day when his parents were planning an outing to Revere Beach. In those days, Revere Beach was a funfilled summer recreational area which included an amusement park hosting arcades, a ferris wheel, roller coasters, roller skating rinks, bowling alleys, food stands, dance pavilions and of course, swimming. The bustling boulevard, the roaring roller coasters, the dazzling dance halls, and endless entertainment beckoned him. However appealing as this was, Anthony chose to stay behind because he considered himself too busy working. I thought back to this story earlier this year when I found myself struggling with math. Although I longed to spend time with my friends, I instead committed myself to spending hours each weekend studying in an effort to master the material. By his example of hard work, my Grandfather influenced others including myself, to work hard and understand that achievement also requires sacrifice. Anthony was also incredibly creative and patient, not only in building a scooter and forming a makeshift rental shop, but in learning how business works. From renting bicycles and scooters, Anthony’s business had expanded to selling magazines and subscriptions. He would buy them directly from the wholesaler in Boston and then bring them to his customers in the North End. However, as his customer base and demand grew, he was unable to secure enough “LIFE” magazines from the wholesaler which quickly depleted his supply. He recalled a few times buying magazines for ten cents from a newsstand and selling them for the same price just to keep his customers happy. To avoid losing profit, he quickly learned how to cut out the middleman by selling subscriptions to local businesses. By working directly with the publisher through these subscriptions, he received enough magazines to cover his existing customers and also received a commission. Through his example of slowly building his customer base with delayed profit and his creative understanding of business, I have learned patience and to embrace my creative outlook in working on long term projects in school, focusing more on the process rather than an immediate end result. My grandfather was wellschooled both academically and through life and business experiences. He recalls reading a book in the kitchen of his family’s Hanover Street five story walkup.. The book was the story of another boy who built his own business by buying and operating small wagons from which goods were sold, accumulating them slowly, just one at a time. At the time, my grandfather's magazine subscription business had grown and expanded into newspapers sales. From the money he had previously earned, he decided to buy a newsstand cart for ten dollars. He planned to locate the newsstand cart on Sundays in front of St. Mary’s Church in the North End. In those days, after attending church, people would stop by the cart to buy a newspaper. On his opening day, November 29, 1942, he found himself engulfed in a sea of frenzied customers. He could not sell the papers fast enough. By fate, that particular Sunday was the morning after the infamous Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire, the deadliest nightclub fire in history. The headline of the Boston Sunday post Read: “408 Dead, 350 Injured In Fire At Cocoanut Grove.” His immediate success was bittersweet because that fire took the lives of 492 people. For my grandfather, the story of the fire resonates strikingly. His eventual college, Boston College had one of the best football teams of its time, considered to have the power and talent of a professional team. The afternoon of November 28, 1942, Boston College was playing Holy Cross at Fenway Park. Boston college was overwhelmingly favored to win the game with a large celebration scheduled to take place at the Cocoanut Grove Nightclub. As fate would have it, Boston College was defeated, by a score of 55 12 and the celebration was canceled. Undeniably, it was a particularly newsworthy day that gave my grandfather a lifechanging moment in his business, both in bolstering his confidence in his business instincts but also in developing a reputation as a businessman. He admits today that he did not truly understand how a single day's

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ events could impact his sales and ultimate profit. From the newspaper and magazine cart business, his education continued more formally at college at the age of 16. Even during college however, he continued his own business endeavors. Seeing an opportunity to make money and help his classmates, he duplicated his class notes by mimeograph and sold them for seventyfive cents per copy. In June of 1950, at the age of 21, he received a Bachelors of Science in Chemistry and Masters of Arts in Philosophy. So far, he is the only known person in the history of Boston College to graduate with his undergraduate degree and master's degree in the same year. Between his informal education on the streets of the North End and his formal education at Boston College, my grandfather paved the road for his children and his grandchildren to not only seek an education but to embrace the search of knowledge. I desire to follow the road map set before me and intend achieve a college education and beyond. My grandfather’s start with a book at the kitchen table and newspapers, is quite meaningful to me. In today’s age of digital technology, we sometimes forget that the source of most knowledge during the 1940’s were a books and the newspaper. To this day, my grandfather is still an avid reader continuing to educate himself through the written word. As his grandson, I also embrace my love of reading, passionately seeking knowledge through the written word. My grandfather was masterful at taking calculated risks and at acquiring and assimilating information around him. During his final year at Boston College, my grandfather was recruited by the CIA. He recalls the interview, believing that he was applying for a standard government job. The government representative told him that the position might require “parachute jumping and traveling to foreign countries”. He was asked if he would be willing to do these things. Naturally, my grandfather was not a thrill seeker, but he said “yes” because he wanted the job. He was that hungry to work and it was a risk he was willing to take. He was first sent to Washington D.C. and later to Asia during the Korean War. He was posted to a military base in Japan and frequently flew in and out of Korea. Among other things, he was assigned to complete certain covert operations and recruit field agents. At one point, a fellow friend and chief of security opposed his use of certain individuals because they did not have full clearance. My grandfather acknowledged that although they did not have full clearance, it was a calculated risk that he needed to take to complete the operation. On another occasion, he was invited to accompany other CIA officers on a flight over China. In that case, however, he declined the offer, thinking that it was an unnecessary risk. That flight was shot down over Manchuria, with both pilots killed and both CIA officers captured and held as prisoners of war for approximately twenty years. While he was busy building his CIA career, he had many mentors, learning about things from sabotage and explosives to the stock market. After my grandfather returned to Washington D.C., the agency, upon realizing that he had no formal training as an agent, sent him to the newly formed CIA school. They also administered several evaluations to try to better understand his background and knowledge. Thereafter, the CIA offered him a position of Chief of Training for his division. Curious about his evaluations, he snuck a peek at his classified personnel report and read the words, “if he goes into private business, the sky would be the limit.” As a result, he declined the job offer and left the CIA to begin a long and successful career in private business. When I think about the choices that my grandfather made, I am inspired to take on more risks in my own life. I took a risk by attending a faraway camp where I did not know anyone. I evaluated the prospect of not knowing anyone and being in an unfamiliar place, but really wanted to try something new. By sharing his story, my grandfather inspired me to think ahead, analyze and evaluate options objectively, take calculated risks and above all, seek and gain knowledge from new people and experiences. When he returned to Boston in 1958, he bought his first business, a drugstore, for $55,000. At the same time, Mike and Arthur DeMoulas, the founders of today's Market Basket, were building a new shopping center in Wilmington, Massachusetts. Having an additional property to lease and knowing my grandfather by his reputation only, they approached him about opening a drugstore in their newly opened shopping center. Subsequently, he continued to open drugstores and buy real estate as well. This business continued until 1967 when larger discount pharmacies called Consumer Value Stores (CVS) were starting up. He had a choice, either go discount and try to compete or sell. He sold and transitioned into the convenience food store business, eventually amassing 40 stores. One day, during the 1973 oil crisis, he was filling his gas tank. He was shocked at the cost to fill the tank. True to form, he quickly analyzed the financial situation and realized how the imminently skyrocketing costs of gas would impact his employees, truck drivers, distributors and ultimately the overall costs of running a business. As a sole proprietor, he felt the tremendous financial responsibility and risks that he faced alone and decided to position himself to sell. In December of 1980, he sold the convenient food store chain but kept all of the real estate that he had acquired over the years. This was truly the beginning of his career in real estate development and management. He started in Chelsea in the early 1980’s in a deserted stretch of eighteen blocks that remained untouched since The Great Chelsea Fire of 1973 that destroyed much of the city. There was no development, the city was going bankrupt, and would eventually be taken over by the

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Albemarle Grade 8 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ state government through a receivership in 1991. Trusting his business instincts, he began buying and building. His first project, commenced in 1984, was a speculative office building in Chelsea that now houses Massachusetts General Hospital. He then designed and built his second speculative building in 1986. From there, he acquired 17 more properties in the City of Chelsea. Today, he is completing a 250,000 square foot complex which will house the new FBI regional headquarters. I use the adaptability that my Grandfather exemplified in my own life. For example, in sixth grade, I decided that I wanted to move to a new school for middle and high school. After looking at multiple schools, and realizing that there were many more options available for ninth grade, I chose to remain at Fessenden for a few more years. Through his experiences, he has inspired me to think ahead, continue to educate myself and be adaptable in life. My grandfather has had yet one more career. In reflecting about his successes, he has been incredibly grateful and to express that gratitude, he has given back. He served on the Board and was President of the Massachusetts Speech and Hearing Foundation for many years. He was a Trustee at St. John’s College and Seminary. He has given generously to Boston area hospitals, particularly for research in the fields of asthma. Moreover, he devoted a significant amount of time and energy in Chelsea, serving on the School's’ Building and Advisory Committee, supporting ROCA, a Chelsea after school program and working with the Economic Development Board during Chelsea’s receivership, inspiring others to also invest in Chelsea and see its potential. In 1985, he established the Anthony C. Simboli Scholarship Fund at Boston College, and in 2006, he founded the Simboli Family College Award for Chelsea High School graduates attending college. While I am inspired by the scholarship award recipients because of their hard work, I am even more inspired by my grandfather who recognized that those who are less economically fortunate also need to be given opportunities in achieving higher education. Their stories make me even more appreciative for the educational opportunities I have. My grandfather has also given generously to Boston College. He felt it was important for young people to realize the benefits of higher education and be afforded the financial opportunity to achieve this. In reflecting on his philanthropic work relating to higher education, he stated “BC taught me discipline, offered me guidance, and it was there I learned to get along with people”. My grandfather has also been generous with his grandchildren, spending time with us whenever we want and trying to share with us the values he has exemplified in his own life. I really hope that I am able to give back to others so generously and while I cannot do so financially right now, I can give my time. I remember back to when I was in sixth grade, and we were asked if we would like to read to the Kindergarteners and work with them. I went whenever I had the chance, looking forward to helping them, and rewarded by a five year old's’ love of books. Experiencing the rewards of giving to others, also makes me appreciate the community service opportunities at Fessenden like cleaning litter of the beach or harvesting vegetables at a community garden. I am inspired by my grandfather's message of giving back and try to help others on a daily basis and in the long term, through my time, efforts and financially. My grandfather has been so successful throughout his life. After I heard what he had accomplished, I thought he had done amazing things with his life and decided I wanted to do something with mine too. He has inspired me to be the best that I can be and to never give up. I had known that he owned his own real estate business, but I never knew or even questioned how that evolved. My grandfather was recently honored by having his name put on a building at Boston College, the college that he went to when he was just a year older than myself. In speaking at the unveiling ceremony of Simboli Hall on September 16, 2015, he stated, “I’m honored and privileged and while I never use the word ‘humbled’, I think I am”. From his humble beginnings, he evolved into a successful businessman, a respected man and philanthropist, and in spite of all of his successes and accolades, remains today, a “humbled” man.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ T HE FISH ER M AN Tucker Simonsen The child sits on the shore. Line dipped in the water source. He hooks into the fish once more, reels in faster than called for, for its life the fish seemed to implore. The fish would have been pleased with his meal, were it real, while the fisherman was left with concern for his worm. And distressed, as his worm had failed its test. On the bank as he perspired, he flicks off the worm he had hired. Hooked a lunker only to lose it, groaned aloud when he excused it. Good worm, yet no fish would choose it, onlookers laugh as he boos it. His basket empty, child tires. About his trip his mom inquires, he replies, no fish for buyers. Completely defeated, fish got the best. Saying water trumps air, ‘twas no test. Worm and fish simply laugh together Victory is theirs, now complete is their endeavor.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Life of a Tennis Player Rahul Singh I spend all my time on court, so that my dreams don’t fall short . Hoping that I spread my name, playing this beautiful game. Practicing each day and night, trying to win every fight. As long as I keep grooving, I know I’ll be improving. Traveling from side to side, visiting places worldwide. Playing in many events, which can help me pay my rent. Results can be such a treat, or can end in harsh defeat. Either way I have to cope, but I can never lose my hope. I always enjoy tennis, and hitting balls with menace I’ll play tennis all my life, it might lead me to my wife. Tennis is awesome to play, I can never back away. This will always stay with me, no matter what comes to be.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Slip Up Ryan Welch Once the words are spoken, There's nothing you can do, For you cannot control, Another’s point of view. When you converse in class, And try to be sincere, It’s crucial you make sure, That what you say is clear. If they think your remark, Has dirty undertones, You are in for trouble, And countless mocking groans. When you try to sway them, That what you said is pure, They will never listen, As long as they’re unsure. Be careful when you speak, For you’ll have to defend. Once they misinterpret, You’ll never hear the end.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “First Car” Will Thibodeau You did it, you bought your first car. Reliable, it will take you far. You love that new car smell. It can take you through heaven and hell. It will get you wherever you need. It will get you there with speed. It handles like a dream. Together, the perfect team. Day after day, Year after year. Rain, Snow or in the clear. You wish you could have it forever. Keeping it safe is your greatest endeavor. Rotten down car. Old musty smell. The engine refuses start Your love is falling apart. It can't get where you need. Not an ounce of speed. You Loved it with all your heart. But it’s time to depart.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Are They My Dreams? Michael Watson To dream a dream To change the theme, Manipulating what I mean. But no matter how much I change, my dreaming clearly stays the same. No matter what I say, No matter what I do, Somehow my dreams Are controlled by you. In my slumber I am not alone. I am pushed by the things I’ve known. At a glance I say they’re mine, All my thoughts are intertwined. To dream a dream Is to just recall The memories I’ve made with all.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Bus Henry Su Silently standing by the light. Streetlights burning golden bright. Cold winter breezes of the night. Ground covered by a sheet of white. Surrounded by a wall of glass, the cold bench was a faded brass. I breathed a cloud of misty gas, seeing my bus arrive at last. Headlights flashing made me dizzy. At this time, streets are still busy. I walked on bus number fifty. Engine started in a jiffy. Through the window, the outside air. I could not help but only stare. In the city, silence is rare, all I remember are blinding glares. After a change of locations, the door opened at the station. I had to wait with much patience, still far from my destination.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “I Can Find My Place” Dom Scordino When all the world fades, And everything is known; Help me set a place in Heaven, Where I can then atone. When the dog days come ‘round, and I am not at ease; God wish for me that place, Where I can just be me. I look around the room, just pews and God’s good grace; let temptation stray from me, So I can earn my place. Life looks at me sternly, I’m reflected in His face; Help me trace your steps, God, So we can then embrace. I walk around the pews, Thoughts slowing my pace, I pray and then He answers, “I will save you a place.” I swap cane for walker, The time is coming ‘round; God shows me in his eyes, My place is safe and sound. I lay down in bed, My mind zones out in space; So God opens his heart to me, so I can take my place.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Getting Left Out Nick Luzzo “High school is supposed to be fun,” If you try to hit the home run, How can you be known by everyone? Not everyone has the free will, Because they don’t want to take a spill, All the way down a steep hill. If you are always wiped out. Possibly getting left out, Without someone to hang out. Pressure makes you feel harassed, Never wanting to come in last, Feeling you’re going nowhere fast. Eventually you will learn, And stop feeling the harsh burn, As corrections help you make the turn. Stop looking for an excuse, Avoid others’ views , That prohibit you from letting loose. If you are part of the background, Maybe try to get off the ground, And hopefully you can rebound. Ultimately you can get lost, And you will have to pay the full cost, When your life gets crisscrossed. Work to reach your height, By always doing what is right, And avoid the temptations of the night.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Within Time, Within Days Jonathan Lin Can we leave a certain time of day? This, I can definitely say, Yesterday is yesterday. Days act as A lost soccer game. What’s done is done, There is no delay To time and today. Days are restricted, to people’s dismay. Humans cannot hope to escape Monday. Face the truth, you can’t get away. Each day wakes us up with a surprise, Days can act dismal or elated, Contemplate, do not surmise. The truth is always shaded, Time ought never be free, It can’t be bought with a fee. Don’t take time for granted, agree? You shall not own time, Nor use it like a dime. For you cannot keep time, throughout a lifetime. What’s done cannot be undone.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “We all have two faces” Jimmy Hu We all have two distinct faces, two different faces we show. Following us to all places like a dark shadow. One for society, showing smiles and big laughs. Challenged sobriety, parties and gaffs. The other is just for you, and no one else can see. Sometimes a kind of blue, the face that’s truly me. Inner face is trying, the truth’s own reflection, feels despair and crying, while showing our affection. We all have two faces, The truth we hide and show. Why cover our traces, And not show the truth below?

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Cliffhanger Eugene Hu Sweaty faces and our sore soles, We are leaving a trail behind. A ravine, a bottomless hole, And at first glance I did not mind. The stony gray color was dull, There is hardly a patch of green. There lies a small, rugged white skull, of someone who is now unseen. Do not look down, ‘Tis the abyss, Fear took my heart, it is confined. The other side, behind the mist, But the chasm is never benign. All of my friends jumped across Like eagles that wanted to soar. Fear burdens me like a cross, The dark abyss haunts me more. I stood there, they told me to jump, Head up, I saw a blinding beam. Thought I heard a loud, painful “thump!” Weary and dreary, like a dream. Feet shivering, legs shuddering, I looked forth to see the huge gap. My eyes moving, mind wandering I turned and looked behind my back. The giant gap was not without bounds, It was just me being afraid. Through void and darkness I hear sounds, “It’s destiny, you can’t evade.” Only see the backs of my friends, They’re all gone, I am left alone. I realized this is the end, Deadly silence, it’s monotone. I stopped sweating, there’s no more light. The pure white moon is in the sky. Against my fears I lost the fight, Can a man be ready to die? 171

Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Stepped back, my forehead cold as ice. Talk to me, what should my choice be? One deep breath will never suffice, Even with eyes, I can’t foresee. I jumped forward, but could not see, My mind was tangled by the fright. Why did I allow fear to take me, to my end, and to fatal flight? Fingers clung to the solid rock, Now what do I do? Weep and wait? Now the clock goes: tick tock tick tock. Now for me it is far too late.

For Graduates Rintaro Yamamoto Now you are playing games on your phone, but remember, life is too short. You are eating cup noodles, yet, life is too short. You speak repetitiously and justify yourself, but, life is too short. You have a goal and you are trying to achieve it, yet, you must remember that life is too short. You have passion for something and you have a dream, but, life is too short. You make a decision to love someone and promise to protect her forever, you still don’t realize life is too short. Yeah life is too short, definitely Like the melting wax on a candle, which occurs easily and suddenly.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “Forget” Connor Burke Forget me when i’m not in place, far away from the human race. Forget the day that had the knife, forget the day it took my life. * * * Forget the man who did us wrong, when your mom can’t stay very strong. You told me that you never quit, Just make sure to keep your spirit. * * * Remember the beautiful lights, go reach the highest of your heights. Forget the darkness of these days, move on through time and go amaze. * * * Forget problems that are ahead, I’m merely a life that has fled. You may feel much sorrow and loss, but don’t let the world be your boss. * * * Forget the pain that is behind, the best part is what soon you’ll find. As they drop me in the rough ground, never let that scene bring you down. * * * Always attempt to never fail, You can still slow down like a snail. Forget my harsh and profound death, enjoy your every single breath.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Personal Essay Azat Mukhametkulov There are some people in my life whose voices guide me and help me make the right decisions on a daily basis. Throughout my entire life, there have been three people who have played very important roles, have guided me, and offered vital advice. My actions are a reflection of both my parents’ and my grandmother’s voices in my mind as I move on in my life. First, one was my mother who shared her knowledge and skills with me. For instance, she always told me not to procrastinate. Every time I have a task to accomplish, that is not due for a while, I think of my mother’s voice and I try to start early enough so that I can finish it before I get overwhelmed. A recent example would be having to complete all of my secondary school applications by the deadline. I spent a tremendous amount of time during my winter vacation working on all the different parts of applications, including many essays, videos, and a portfolio. Continually hearing my mother’s voice helped me to complete my work before returning back to school, when I had to focus on my school work once again. The second person whose voice continually speaks to me is my wise grandmother. She has always given me valuable advice as well, but one of the lessons I remember the most is to always be appreciative of what people give and do for me. My grandmother’s voice reminds me to always come back to the places where I have spent a lot of time and thank those people who have shared their knowledge with me. Every summer I go to my family’s hometown, which is about two hours from where I live. During the day, I help with daily chores. In the evenings, we stay together and I hear stories about my family that I have not heard before. I am thankful for this opportunity to be with my family and to learn more about them. The third person is my father, who has been a significant role model for my whole family. He always says: “Try hard to overcome, no matter what you do, because it will benefit you in the future”. I am reminded of his words especially when I am away at school, because I get very stressed about the amount of work I have. I am thankful for the chance to be here at Fessenden and as a result I want to do very well in school. Sometimes, that can be difficult with the additional responsibilities that I have, like being a dormitory proctor. When I find it tough to keep up, I think of what my father has taught me. Then I try to finish one thing at a time, as best I can, until I have completed everything that needs to be done. My father has always been a great educator and a person who will help me no matter what. In the film “The Power of One” Peekay, the main character, who was influenced by many people in his life, he persevered through many ordeals, while doing what was right for those less fortunate than him. I admire him for what he did, but I would have done it differently. I would have gone to the Oxford University first, because of the educational opportunity, and then would have taught students English if that was my passion. Going to one of the best universities in the world would benefit me for years to come, and then I could pass my knowledge onto students in my country. This would happen by following the voices I hear, from both my parents and a granny that always tell me to strive for the best. These reassuring voices will be beneficial for me as well as anyone else that I wanted to help in the future.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ ”At its worst, it's still the best’ Michael Allieri Hockey is a beautiful sport! If you don’t mind dedicating all your time to practice, so maybe you can play 3 or 4 shifts for the best team, even though you give 100% effort! Knowing that giving up is not an option,, While trying not to let the criticism Get to your head, and prevent you from Playing the best hockey you can! Hockey is a beautiful sport! If you don’t mind., Getting injured, For a few games! And sometimes a season,! And in some cases, not getting to play hockey for the rest of your life! Or if you don’t mind, giving your life up, to be cut from the hockey team in college.! Hockey is a beautiful sport! If you love, The beauty of desperation, of a last second save when time is running out! 0r The element of precision, Needed by a surgeon in the operating room! Or, The excitement of a game winner with almost no time left in the game Or, The moment when you make a move and make them fall hard to the ice, With your teammates cheering you on! As Brendan Shanahan once said, “Well you tell me, You need the strength and power of a football player, The concentration of a brain surgeon The endurance of a marathon runner while moving at high speed on blades that are of an inch thick. So, you tell me.” Even at Hockey’s worst, It’s still the best!

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “Grit” Ugochukwu Achara When I lost all hope, At the end of my rope. In disarray with my thoughts, barely holding on . . . feeling lost. When my core felt sore and my soul unsure. When my fears flourished, my faith left unnourished. In the gloom of light, In the quiet of night, In ends just started, and hearts departed. All melodies were gone, but I still heard a song. All strength was drawn, struggling to carry on. I prayed for that hour where peace blooms like a flower, when joy has no border and fear has no power. Stood up through weakness, Having little meekness. On bent knees I found you, On firm feet you left me.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Last Frontier Francis Shea I look out on the last frontier afraid of what’s coming near, A chill bites at my nose more voracious than the last one though, I look out to find a path someone to lead me outside to this blood bath, But no one comes and not one answers to help, to get me through this deadly cancer, A family to look out for and a new baby to love, a beautiful gift from the high heavens above, The snow is falling; it is only September, barely having enough crops to last till December, I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what to say. But I have to be brave for my family and Show them I will not cave. The tip of the Alaska, the Last Frontier, the land in my name for over fifty years. Three generations of hard working men. “No one have seen a winter like this,” the weatherman says. As I turn around to face my house, I see a boy smiling with his twoteeth showing. As the storm comes near, I turn to my house and I reflect how much I fear.

Fort Wilderness Jackson Avila Connerney The third night we lifted the pardon! Men lay scattered like flower petals across a garden. The enemy watched over our formalities, overwhelmingly haggard, as the rivals celebrated our side’s fatalities. Acknowledging and resting our depleted legs, sentimentally tattered, the result of red coats and red powder kegs. Our motivation for revenge washed away our pity. Our aggression gathered. Hatred boiled for the enemy giving us clarity. Attempting to fulfill our dues to loved ones. Addressing all that mattered, Readying for battle and collecting our guns. To fix a country shattered!

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Adventures of Wally Popp Ben McCabe The tall Hawaiian native is looking to make a difference in the food industry. Wally Popp is not the smartest in the bunch and has some trouble getting a job. He is a very humorous guy, but can be cocky at times when it comes to his cooking. Popp has always been looking forward to being a head chef in any high end restaurant. Though he has won the Top Teen Chef award in Hawaii for the past two years, there is still intense competition all around there. He has blue eyes and gleaming blond hair and is always looking out for ladies because of what an attractive guy he is. Wally Popp is very physical and has trouble with school; this may be explained by him not having any parents. “Mom and Dad are dead!” cried out Wally’s brother Rodger on the phone. Wally’s heart dropped. He had just left class at Cooking University when his phone vibrated “They were perfectly fine, what happened?” said Wally in deep depression. “Mom and Dad were fatally stabbed by some guy who broke into the apartment searching for your famous filet mignon recipe,” replied Rodger. Wally was pondering about how this is going to affect his cooking career. While Wally was thinking about this, he realized that he is never going to see them again. His father, who taught him everything about cooking, is dead. Wally now had a lot on his mind, from his parents dying, and to remembering that he has a big cooking test coming up to graduate college. “Rodger, I know that this just happened, but I need to graduate college and go on with my cooking career,” Wally said with eagerness. Wally thought this was never going to happen. He was so close with his parents, he called or texted them everyday. Wally continued to be in shock the whole rest of that night. Wally knew that this big cooking test was going to be crucial so he ended up studying the rest of that night. Fast forwarding to the day of the test, Wally was crunching for time, studying up until the last minute. Wally knew that he needed to receive above a 70% to pass college. He had a sense of nervousness and discomfort. His college cooking teacher emailed and said, “Congratulations you passed college with a 71%” He could not reply because he was so shocked. He knew now that he is going to be vaulted into the real world. As Wally entered the real world he knew that there would be many challenges to be faced. Wally knew that he had such a good background from going to a very impressive cooking college. He realized he did not know what to do without his parents with him to go to job interviews or to help pay for his phone and rent for his house. One day Wally was walking down a long and sketchy street to go and get groceries from the local grocery store. As he was walking down the street a man bumped into him handing out luxury pamphlets for a position to be a chef at a new high end restaurant. Wally was not expecting that a job this big at a such an elegant restaurant would come this way. It turned out that this mysterious man was a professional soccer player who has disposable wealth and has always wanted to start up a restaurant. Wally knew that this position could change his life forever. Wally did not know that this job was just for him and a couple of other chefs. As you may know, Wally is not the sharpest tool in the shed. He of course just talked to the guy without reading the pamphlet and put it in his pocket. The pamphlet read, “Tryouts are on June 6th, 2014.” Wally knew that this was going to be another challenge that was going to have to be faced. Later that evening, Wally was wondering if his arch rival Ricky Grubb was going to be trying out for this position as well. Suddenly he heard a mysterious noise come from his dilapidated computer. Wally scampered over to his computer and there it was, the list of chefs for the tryout. Wally was astonished by how many people he saw on there. Over twenty chefs from all over Hawaii were looking for this job. He kept scrolling and on the bottom of the email from 178

Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ the very intelligent man on the street it said, “ONLY FIVE CHEFS WILL BE SELECTED!” During the long, five day wait for the tryout, Wally was immensely nervous. Wally knew that he had to get cooking before he entered the tryout. Wally thought it would be a great idea to start cooking up some excellent dishes for his brother Rodger. The pamphlet did not specify what the exact dish was or how much time there would be to cook it, so Wally had to be prepared for anything. He wanted to stand out though because of how many people were trying out. Everyday Wally made breakfast, lunch, and dinner for his brother and himself. Rodger believed in him that he could get the job because of how well prepared he looked in the kitchen. Even though Wally had beaten Ricky in the past, Ricky has been training for a while and was looking good. The five days went by of fast and hard work by Wally. His brother really helped him out and encouraged him to push himself to his limit. Wally walked into an old warehouse with so many stoves it got overwhelming. During this event everyone could not go at the same time because of the amount of tools and supplies the man could offer the contestants. A young man gathered everyone in the kitchen and announced who will be up first and second. He read through the list slowly announcing everyone that went first. Wally was not called and knew he had an ample amount of time to be ready . Wally was still wondering what the dish was that he had to prepare. As soon as Wally was thinking that the man announced, “you will have thirty minutes to prepare a filet mignon.” Wally was in great excitement because he knew exactly what to do because that was one of the dishes he prepared for his brother and him. As the timer on the wall of the kitchen started to tick from 30 minutes down, Wally gathered all of his ingredients in uniform piles. As he began his preparation he put his hands together and prayed to the sky and said, “I’m doing this for you Mom and Dad.” As ten minutes passed by he had already marinated his filet mignon with a nice arugula glaze. On the side of his dish he decided to put some creamy mashed potatoes together. The filet mignon was sizzling on the stove along with the mashed potatoes. Suddenly his stove stopped working and everything was going down hill. He knew this was not going the way he wanted it to, but some of his fellow chefs kindly helped him out letting Wally use their stove. Of course, Ricky did not let Wally use his, because of the bad blood between them. The clock struck one minute and Wally was ready to present the best dish he has ever presented in his life. The young men counted down 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and yelled out, “stop, put the utensils down, and do not touch your dish.” Wally’s dish was looking very good. Wally’s colorful and delicious dish looked like it could be the one. The young man went through everyone’s dish and announced the best five who will become the new chefs. Wally’s fellow chefs who befriended him in the middle of the competition were called. The tension was high between Ricky and Wally for the last position. The young man said, “The last position for our new restaurant is..... Wally Popp.” Wally knew he could do it and called his brother right way in a frenzy. Wally said, “there is just one more person I need to talk to.” Wally called his grandparents and there was no answer.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Sunrises and Sunsets Logan Tonra Beauty is everywhere in life, but there are few things more beautiful than observing the sunrise. For years I did not know what made sunrises so beautiful, it’s soft orange glow, its vast size or the certainty that the sun always rising. After fourteen years of sunrises, I have finally realized what makes them so beautiful. Not its size, not its color, but its significance. Every time I see a sunrise I have a clean slate. The day has just begun, and I have hours of work, play and everything in between ahead of me. The sunrise signifies that any of my mistakes yesterday or in the past are over, and I should only be here now. When I see the sunrise, I know that I have some laughs and some smiles ahead of me, and I am going to have a great day. Usually in the morning I wake up and need a few minutes to calibrate. Walking to breakfast, I always walk the longer route outside so I can see the sunrise and feel the cold morning air. Staring at the soft orange light through the trees and taking a deep breath of the thin, cold air always brings be back to earth and reassures me that no matter what, the sun will rise again tomorrow. The only other event that comes close to the beauty of a sunrise is a sunset, although for different reasons. A sunset is the end of the day. When I see a suns,t I see its pallet of colors but I also see a reflection of my day. The sunset tells me that I have tried my best for the day and I will be ready for whatever comes tomorrow. Although it has taken me years to discover these hidden meanings in such common occurrences, they have become the most beautiful parts of my life because of their hidden meanings. Regret Galym Sarkytbayev The day that I left my home: no words, no tears, no love. I had no wish to hurt my family, my friends. And now, when I am all alone All I can do is roam the vast world that lies ahead. The days we roamed the empty streets at nights, When the lights flickered and the silence was haunting, We were free and flew high just like kites The thought of the future always seemed daunting. The shattered windows reflected the pupils of our eyes. We went and walked towards our future. In the end, we just gazed up at the clear black skies. We had no regrets of the acts we had made, as we grasped the stars

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ I Killed a Fly Lincoln Wang This morning I had jet lag. It’s the quietness and peacefulness that woke me up. Stepping in the bathroom, I turned on the lights, sat down. And a fly flew by. “Buzz, Buzz.” it said. I did not get it, for I have no time to study insects’ language. “Buzz, Buzz.” It said again, and sat down on the floor. Curiosity took me to a closer look. It was wondering, sniffing perhaps, searching for something that Looking around, it flew up, toward the ceiling, until it crashed, landed upside down. It become more visible, its dark body, shaking its rear, fluttering its wings. It flew again, around the room, hovering above my head, singing, or buzzing. Gliding in every direction, diving toward the ground, and then raise up high. Eventually, it I stood up, water’s clattering sound was more than audible. Moved to the sink, washed my hands, ready to take my toothbrush, but that is when it landed on my hand. “Shoo, shoo.” I said, waving my hands. It went and returned. Attempted to land on my toothbrush, as I flicked my finger and a gust of power blew it away. Finally, it charged toward me, as its last useless struggle, cursing at me: “Buzz, It was on the ground, not speaking anymore but shuddering, then motionless. The serenity in the space was undistracted, as I witnessed. I killed a fly. The Baseball Game James Broderick Lights are on sky is dark stars are out Players take the field music begins to play first pitch is thrown the game is underway The ball is hit high and far and then looks like another star Then all of the sudden it becomes crashing down to the outfielder with an outstretched hand it hits the glove Smack an out

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Small Andrew Moon Always small, I do not force A lack of faith Too fearful But okay You told me Itself is a living hope People next to you It is hope I tell you again My little hope of you thank you So today I breathe Even though it’s hard I sing I wake up while I am sleeping Scars and Stitches Ethan Bastien Tears streaming down my face over and over again; I still remember this incident like it was yesterday. For a second, I could not see anything, I did not know what was happening. Then I started to get this piercing feeling above my right eye and below my eyebrow. Blood was gushing everywhere, dribbling down my face onto the carpet. The blood went into my mouth. It was sour. I heard my parents’ thunderous footsteps storming towards the living room because they heard me screaming and crying. When I finally got my vision back I saw my mother on the phone with the hospital, and my dad trying to clean up the vast pool of blood. The ambulance finally arrived at my house. The medics rushed inside to find me still crying at the time. They transferred me to the van and started keeping watch over me. After a few minutes they medicated me to put me to sleep until Well that’s what you get for trying to jump from couch to couch sidestepping the carpet because it was lava! I was a rowdy four year old who loved Spider Man. I was wearing my Spider Man costume. It had blue pants and the muscle shirt. I felt like I was transformed into another human being! I was watching a spellbinding TV show that had Spider Man in it, and I wanted to do what he did. My mother had recently bought me a spray can that was comprised of foam strings. I would use the spray can to shoot where I wanted to land. After spraying I would vault myself there. Most of the time it worked, but one time it did not and I banged into the table head first. Despite the fact that I got eight stitches at the hospital, I was four years old and I continued to fling myself When they were around, my parents would always tell me not to jump like this, but when they were not around I would disobey their command. I never enjoyed being told what to do. I always wanted to do my own thing. Another example of trying to do what adults were doing was when I was in the fourth grade and a guy came into the gym and started doing wheelies all across the gym. So I went back home and tried to do what he did on my BMX bike up and down the block. I did it for about ten seconds, hit a pebble, and then I flew. There were abrasions all over my stomach because when I landed I slid on the asphalt. My parents were beyond upset. The tremendous problem with these behaviors is that, as a child, I never learned from my mistakes. 182

Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Dreams Justin Chae A goal comes right away But dreams come slowly Or never come A goal is a rock on the top of the mountain A dream is the cloud floating around over the peak A kite with a goal is often stuck on branches A kite with a dream may sit on a branch But it flies freely with no limits Therefore a goal stays inside a beautiful fence But there are no walls in the world of dreams Kevyn Ryan Fang A gray afternoon with a dull sky threatened to rain. A cloud, ominous and black, the color of death slowly drifted above Kevyn as he stepped down the last few damp, cement stairs. It is five in the afternoon mid summer and the street lamps were already shining. Soggy, thought Kevyn, as he exited the massive campus of MIT, the university where he had been accepted fairly easily with the help of Elysium and her friends. He walked down a poorly lit street, turned to check his surroundings, squeezing through a space between two buildings, and headed straight down a trash littered alley. He disliked this route, as it is filthy and always ruined his jacket and shoes, but he found himself using it more often than he liked because it is faster than other alternatives. “Time cannot be replaced,” muttered Kevyn as he walked down the back alley, “but clothing can.” He quickened his pace as the sky turned darker. A flash of lightning lit up part of the sky and a crackle of thunder boomed in the distance. He exited the filthy back alley and scampered out into the open, jogging. It has started drizzling, and a drop of rain somehow escaped the hood of his jacket and fell onto his violet eyes. He blinked it away and quickened his pace, running down Craft Street. The busy street is oddly quiet, and not a single living soul could be seen. A strong breeze swept past Kevyn, slapping the page of an ancient newspaper onto his face. He brushed it away irritably, but while he did, saw something move out of the corner of his eyes. A flash of red shot through his vision and his eyes started to loose focus. The air became unusually moist and Kevyn suddenly felt fevered. He instinctively knew something was wrong, something that was not supposed to happen, something that should not happen now. Despite the heat, Kevyn felt a chill traveled down his spine, his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground. Growing up in an orphanage have long ago shaped Kevyn’s perception of the world. To him, the world is a terrible place, cruel, pitiless, dull, dark as a bad dream. Not a good place to live. Kevyn sees them ever since he can remember, not just a blur or shadow, but in real, vivid colors. Some say Kevyn is blessed with a unique gift that can be used to unfold humanity’s greatest mystery; some say Kevyn possesses a dark curse that will only cause harm to those around him; Some say Kevyn is a lunatic, and others do not believe in this matter. Kevyn was sitting under a tree chatting with Saul, the one who altered Kevyn’s iris to a rich violet color, and Kevyn’s sole friend before he met Mr. and Mrs. Olsen, his current foster parents. The few minutes that took Kevyn’s vision to readjust, prolonged with fear felt like hours. Kevyn instinctively knew the figure on his right is not a spirit, a check of his watch told him the moon will not be visible until another half an hour. 183

Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “I see you are one of the lights,” croaked the figure with a gravelly, flat voice that sounded like it haven’t spoken in centuries. How did he discover my ability? Kevyn panicked for a moment, then a thought flashed across his mind: My iris! He turned around and studied his reflection on a puddle of rainwater. There it is, once a rich violet, now a glowering coral red. A glimpse at the figure made him regret immediately. Even after meeting spirits for a lifetime, this one towering above him has a trait that intimidates him. Perhaps it is because of the maroon, piercing eyes that seem to bore into his soul, making him feel exposed; perhaps because it is not afraid and took the initiative to contact him; Perhaps it is because of the strong reaction after seeing him Kevyn was about to ask for his name when the figure suddenly replied, “ I can read your desires.” It is dark now, and the moon slowly trudged over the horizon. The dim streetlamps casting an eerie, pale light on Waythe’s face. Kevyn’s mind screamed at him to run away, but his body only managed a twitch. Transfixed, unable to move, Kevyn stared at Waythe in absolute silence for what seemed like an eternity. Watching it slowly move towards him, reaching out for him, a smug and insidious look stretched across his face. Just as Waythe’s nails touched Kevyn’s shoulder, a truck charged out of the gloom. The periodic distraction was all Kevyn needed, as the red spirit turned the transfix weakened, and he broke into a mad dash down the street. He heard the screeching of tires and someone screaming over the frantic padding of his foot.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Greed Taiyo Olorode Upper Class I do not have greed. in fact it is my righteous need, They say, “Why so much?” But I say, “I have the midas touch.” They say, “Give some to me.” but I say, “I have children to feed!” Need I say anymore? But we need some more! This has been the case since birth, But it should be shared with people of earth My numbers still go up, I hope my small donation helps you up. Middle Class Those above us, and those below us Are not fortunate enough, because they are nothing but bluff. We have no less or no more, because we have caring friends next door The ones above, money is their passion All they need is a little compassion. Lower Class Greed is not for us, we have nothing but us We sometimes look up, and hope someday people help us up. Portrayed as criminals, savages, with no emotions When I grow up, I also want a promotion We don’;t just cause commotion Did you not get the notion?

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Death’s Survivor Andoni Barberena Was there any difference between General Zaroff and Rainsford by the end of the story? There are seven billion people in the world, and every single one is unique. We may have common characteristics, although we still possess a exclusive genetic combination. In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Sanger Rainsford originating at New York City, is cruising in his yacht through the Caribbean waiting to arrive at Rio de Janeiro in order to go hunt Amazonian Jaguars. However, as he is smoking a cigar on deck he falls overboard and eventually swims into an island called Ship Trap Island where a Russian general named General Zaroff lives in his castle, dedicating his days to hunting humans. This is why he uses Rainsford as his new prey, and if he survives, an opportunity to live in the castle will be available. By the end of the story, Rainsford became a much more compassionate, respectful, and antagonist person as he was the creature being hunted by his own species and has to Rainsford was taught to feel more compassion for the animals that he hunted. He learned this feeling with a tougher method, by having a psychopath hunt him down. Hunters generally have scarce compassion for game animals because they are observed as a inferior and worthless creatures which have only value in their skin. Rainsford for the first time felt and understood the intimidating feeling these animals have. At the beginning of the story, Rainsford has a conversation with Whitney on the yacht when he tells him, “You’re a biggame hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?”and in the same conversation he mentions, “ The world is made up of two classes hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters.” This just clearly demonstrates the clouded judgement that Rainsford had towards animals of this type, to a degree where he foresees two classes of humans in the planet. As Rainsford is being hunted down by Zaroff, he uses his past hunting experiences and tricks to lead his hunter away from the prey, to a degree where the General enjoys the experience of hunting him. “Rainsford’s second thought was even more terrible. It sent a shudder of cold horror through his whole being. Why had the general smiled? Why had he turned back?” In the same scene, “Rainsford did not want to believe what his reason told him was true, but the truth was as evident as the sun that had by now pushed through the morning mists. The general was playing with him! The general was saving him for another day’s sport! The Cossack was the cat; he was the mouse. Then it was that Rainsford knew the full meaning of terror.” The Cossack was simply playing with him, and enjoying the hunt for Rainsford, which is why Zaroff smiled when he recognized Rainsford’s presence, but he acknowledged his hiding skills so much, that Rainsford is spared for another day. During this period, he realizes the terror he now feels. Rainsford is using strategic plans to hide from the Cossack, but he cannot outsmart him yet even with all the hunting skills he possesses. During these crucial moments he starts to feel as a prey. As the story continues, Rainsford learns the feeling of desperation a huntee possesses during a persecution for his life. He is fitting the description of what Zaroff considers a perfect hunt throughout the story’s finality. He acquires the fear of blood hounds, eccentric hiding skills, and a stronger control over his feelings. At the same time, he has his hunter’s knowledge and experience to deal with these situations, which (returning to the past point) convert him into Zaroff’s perfect hunt. “At daybreak Rainsford, lying near the swamp, was awakened by a sound that made him know that he had new concepts to learn about fear. It was a distant sound, faint and wavering, but he knew it. It was the baying of a pack of hounds” “Rainsford knew he could do one of two things. He could stay where he was and wait. That was suicide. He could flee. That was postponing the inevitable. For a moment he stood there, thinking. An idea that held a wild chance came to him, and, tightening his belt, he headed away from the swamp.” This passage demonstrates how even though Rainsford is facing a whole different fear, he still is able to survive. Sanger is in extreme danger and in a pitiful position against a pack of hounds. His logic differentiates him from Zaroff’s common game and provides him capacity to survive, which is 186

Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ what Zaroff craves. A sole common aspect among prey is the hatred towards their predator. This rancor initiates the moment a plain creature transforms into a victim of another hunter. This evolution is due to the suffering perceived by the prey. ““Rainsford!” screamed the general. “How in God’s name did you get here?” “Swam,” said Rainsford. “I found it quicker than walking through the jungle.” The general sucked in his breath and smiled. “I congratulate you,” he said. “You have won the game.” Rainsford did not smile. “I am still a beast at bay,” he said, in a low, hoarse voice. “Get ready, General Zaroff.” The general made one of his deepest bows. “I see,” he said. “Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford.” He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided.” The passage clearly demonstrates how Rainsford became furious as he was converted into the victim. His perception of Zaroff is exhibited in the evolution from the story’s initiation when the General greeted him with a fine champagne, dinner, bed, and clothes. This evolution has moved Rainsford to the point of murdering Zaroff. Rainsford’s change from predator to prey has shocked him to the point of creating a prototype of himself in which he develops a hatred ideal towards Zaroff. His survival skills lead him to outsmart his hunter and eventually win “the most dangerous game”. In the end, Rainsford did become a more compassionate, respectful, and antagonist person as he was the creature being hunted by his own species and has to survive a psychopath’s wish to hunt him. He did become a much more compassionate towards the animals he hunted, as he now had experienced the sensation of being a prey. Sanger did become a “too perfect” prey for Zaroff by the end of the story as he turns out to be a hard hunt, to a degree where the General was outsmarted. His past experiences demonstrate utility during this period. This is also a time where his feelings towards the general change dramatically to the point of feeling hatred towards him in an uncontrollable quantity. This eventually leads Zaroff to his end. Therefore, Sanger Rainsford’s transformation will affect his future preys and his antagonist personality. This is due to all the events that he puts up with throughout the story. ““Nerve, nerve, nerve!” he panted, as he dashed along. A blue gap showed between the trees dead ahead. Ever nearer drew the hounds. Rainsford forced himself on toward that gap. He reached it. It was the shore of the sea. Across a cove he could see the gloomy gray stone of the chateau. Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed. Rainsford hesitated. He heard the hounds. Then he leaped far out into the sea ” In the story there is no clear passage to indicate the transformation Rainford overcame, but giving the facts it is clear. Rainsford finally understood what a prey’s feelings during his death pursuit, giving his position as such during the story. He fulfilled all the aspects necessary to conclude this, such as the hatred towards the hunter, the fear of hounds, and the enhanced speed for decision making. This change in Rainsford’s life will not prevent or conclude his hunting career, but rather give it a different turn. “It is our experiences which define our future character” Unknown.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Family Importance Mikel Linero “When I die, I wanna have two nuns who visit my grave, will pray for me all night, and keep me company,” my grandma said in a serious tone. “But you are going to be dead, why do you care about being lonely?” said my mom with a little laugh.This was one of the weird topics of our conversations that occurred when I visited my grandma. I live in a normal size house in Mexico City, with my two brothers, two sisters and my parents. Most people grow up very attached to their grandparents, in my case it’s different because I never was able to meet either of my two grandparents and one of my grandmothers passed away when I was little. As for my other grandmother, I have vague memories of my grandmother and I because we don’t spend a lot of time with together because she lives in a small apartment in the center of the city. The only company she has is a maid that helps her with any troubles she may have. However, this Thanksgiving break made me realize how important my grandmother is. My friends and family made this Thanksgiving break unbelievably fun and unforgettable. I left Fessy and twelve hours later, I was having dinner with my family 2,300 miles away, at my house back in Mexico. After catching up with my family and eating dinner, I went to sleep. The next day I took two of my friends up to my ranch, where we rode horses, played paddle tennis, and swam in my pool. We had a blast.The weekend went by so fast, but overall I it was a great weekend. As for Sunday, it is always a family day. Sunday meals are really funny and entertaining, that’s where my brothers always make me laugh with their tales about what they did during the weekend. One time I remember Imanol, my brother narrating the time my dad and he went to the mountains to ride their motorcycles. He even acted out my dad’s comic fall. That’s is one of my favorite Sunday lunch stories. The next Friday, my dad invited me to play in a golf tournament with his friends. I agreed, since I love playing golf. Friday came and it was time for me to test my rusty golf skills. I hadn’t played golf in over 6 months. I played terribly, my shots didn’t go where they were suppose to go and my drivers were all over the place, but I had terrific time playing alongside my dad’s friends. I expected this to be a boring golf tournament, but it wasn’t . My dad introduced me to his friends. While talking to his friends, I realized that I didn’t knew much about my Dad’s past. Turns out my dad was a great goalkeeper for his school and soccer club team, and had a few chances to become a professional soccer player. His dad didn’t let him become pro because he believed that soccer players are lazy. Two of my Dad’s best friends became professional soccer players, and they both agreed that my dad was a terrific goalkeeper. Overall I had a great time, getting to know more about my dad’s past. I hate to visit my Grandma due to the fact that my Grandma becomes too emotional over silly stuff. One other thing that make this visits more painful is the fact that I don’t do anything except stare at my grandma and nod my head while she talks. I couldn’t fight my mom forever, so eventually I got in the car and we drove to the restaurant where we would meet my Grandma. My dad always says Grandma is a key component of the family, even though, he always has a rough time dealing with family businesses, such as keeping the bakeries running and being in charge of the family finances. He says Grandma joins the family it her own unique way. As soon as my mom and I walked into the restaurant, Grandma greeted us with a smile from ear to ear. I gave her a kiss and smiled back. In the past, I used to hate visiting Grandma because my family had some issues with her. Every time I visited her by myself she’d cry and hate when it she cries because she makes me feel terrible. As the conversation went along, Grandma would keep complimenting me saying that I am in good shape, personally I think I’m am a little, just a little fat. One conversation that stood out the most was Grandma arguing about how she is fat. My mom agreed and pointed out she was fat too. Grandma became furious because she knows my mom is not fat. It became a furious and awkward debate in which Grandma won. My Grandma loves having silly arguments because at the end she makes everyone laugh. 188

Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ As the visit went on I realized that my dad was right; Grandma is an essential part of my life. Tiny things like making everyone laugh and complimenting everyone makes my other family members feel special. She is the only I have grandmother left. I need to make the best out of my time left with Grandma because I’ll never know when she might not be around. This Thanksgiving break was definitely one I will never forget since it only brought me closer to my friends and family. It helped me recover an essential part of my family, that being my Grandma. Over this Thanksgiving break, I also learned that there is nothing more important than family. Memorable times like this is what makes life beautiful. Blue Mantis Illia Rebechar The sweet, homely smell of mother's pancakes slowly travels through the house. The kitchen swirls with all kinds of peculiar flavors and people’s footsteps. The cold milky morning of March kicked in; the house had its own unique, exotic climate. The clock finally ticks seven, and the heavy wearisome step on the second floor is heard. The one thumping footstep has been noted in this cozy house for many years, ever since Booker lost the other one. The walls creak under the soft pressure of his palms. The step travels to the only bathroom in the household, and the rusty pipes begin to fill with water. “Your breakfast is ready honey!” yelled Booker’s mother, interrupting the water flow. For a second Booker ignored the voice, but he knew he had to answer back. “Yes, ma’am” he answered, halting the water and trying to scramble back to his room to dress. After a minute, Booker slowly descended to the kitchen, where a vanilla pancake breakfast was waiting for him. “Why do I always have it cold?” Booker questioned with an irritated tone. “Now shush, and eat the food before I take it away,” she said, not even looking at his heated smirk. “Oh come on, Meg! Give him a break.” Booker’s dad exclaimed, slurping his hot steamy coffee. “Booker is fine. He just needs more time than usual, this morning.” The bitter look faded from Booker’s face as his dad stepped in to help. Within seconds, the prosthetic was hooked on and Booker was off to the most meager high school in Ohio. The air whistled softly through the crevice of the front door, and his Frye boots broke the smooth dusting of snow. Soft, numbing wind made the tears freeze as Booker took a new fresh step toward the school bus. The lengthy walk home was tiresome. The stereotyped hallways and dull classes of Clay High School decimated Booker. The chilly classrooms and the cliched students made his day backbreaking. The smoky afternoon sky hung over the city of Gallipolis and overworked dads and moms drove into the empty streets from the bustling highway. The automobiles kept coming in in an eternal flow. But there was a wistful sound that rattled the street. One single whimper of a puppy. In a moment, Booker was there, right next to the feeble pup. He picked the Schnauzer and headed home, next to a calm, peaceful road. For the next month, Booker’s life sprang with joy as he found his true pal. All of the pain has left his resentful heart. Booker and Alexa became cemented together. Comic Store, Walgreens and the movie theater, both did all of the activities side by side. Early April arrived. Trees filled with eerie, vivid blossoms in the backyards seem to add another distinct feeling to Gallipolis. The warm, energizing breeze flowed and carried the feeling over miles making fresh, new changes to the wild life in the city. The students bounced in satisfaction as the long wanted vacation was right around the corner. Alexa and Booker were thrilled as never before for they are about to embark on the craziest week of their lives.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Eleven thirty in the morning seems like a wonderful time to wake up. The birds are chirping outside as the pleasant sunrays shine in Booker's face. “Booker! Wake up, before I get up there and force you and your worthless pup to get out of that room!” The hectic voice of Booker’s mom echoes through the house, finally hitting his ears. “Why do you always have to be so egotistical?” the unexpected answer came out so quick, Booker couldn’t get the word back. “Oh, you shut your mouth! You know how much I’ve paid to make you live?” Mom screamed, running up the stairs. “I didn't want any of this you know. Ever Since you killed your only sister in that car crash. That evening she died, she was still in my womb and you killed her. You were a distraction, and how many times have I told you to never distract a driver?” The second that mom brought up the crash Booker filled with sorrow. “You lost your leg and that's it?! All I wanted is to have a daughter and a son. It’s all on you now because you made me lose her! You should feel horrible about it. I hate you.” Tears gently began to drift onto Booker’s cheek as she finished her rant. “You are lucky you have such a nice father, now get yourself out of that bed and get to breakfast.” She slammed the door without looking back at her only hated son. The rest of the morning was filled with sorrow until an official called in from dad’s office. The moment Booker’s mom picked up the phone, she dropped into tears. The feeling swelled the room with agony and distress. Mom never cried like that before and there was only one cause to the pain. Abruptly she turned to Booker. “You! It’s all because of you, you little punk!”. Handing him the phone she rushed to her bedroom in tears. “Hello?” Booker questioned with a horrified look in his eyes. “Hello Booker, I have something to tell you. It’s about your dad. Listen, I want you to stay calm.” The second the officer said the words, Booker regretted picking up the phone. “Your dad, he... He passed away this afternoon in a fire at his office.” Tears swam across his cheeks. Dropping the phone, Booker scrambled back to his room. The burning inside made the whole situation worse. The kitchen was quiet and the vivid smells were gone. The rusty pipes were torrid and silent. The hallways of the house are empty and somewhat abandoned. His whole life was ruined for Booker that morning and it was lost forever. Spring is gone and it is time for sunny beaches and sizzling sand. July is finally in Gallipolis and overworked children walk home in desperate need of water. The cool air conditioning inside the buildings became a necessity for survival. The days seemed gorgeous but Booker still felt down. “Booker? Get out of bed!” Moms sharp yap flew into Booker’s ear, with a stunning slap on his face. “What have I ever done to you, huh?” He couldn’t help but fight back against his hateful mother. Right when Booker announced those words, his mother’s palm flew into his cheek and made him bleed. “Do you think I forgot about my husband? What you've done to him?” She yelled, her words and bits of saliva flew onto Bookers cheek. “Get out and go somewhere else! I don't want to see you anymore!” The door broke under the pressure from the slam. Booker was furious. The feeling of misery was gone and vengeance plugged in instead. The stairs creaked under Booker’s foot and he slowly descended to the living room. “Booker? Get to your room!” Mother’s last words escaped her mouth with hatred. He entered the living room. The steady breath is heard right above the couch. Hatred fills Booker’s eyes. His knuckles crack under the pressure of his fist.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “All I wanted is a good mother, and you failed at your duty.” Booker stared at the woman on the couch. His breath became heavier as adrenaline rushed through his blood. “I wanted to live my life like a normal child but you stood in my way making me feel small. You, you did this to yourself, not I.” Booker’s mother was already in pain before she could reply. The steel entered her bitter heart. Her eyes rolled up looking at the boy. “How could you? First you killed my husband, and now......me?” Her last whispers escaped her dirty mouth. Her eyes were still looking up at Booker. Fresh crimson filled her chest and slowly dripped down on the couch. “The End. I won, like I always did, with or without you.” Booker stepped away from the woman and a satisfactory smile stretched across his face. The wind whistled through the crevice of the front door. The sun fell before the horizon and darkness filled the streets. Whispers of the television flew across the halls in the house. Silvery glare from it shined onto the steel knife handle. The footsteps were not heard, the vivid flavors were gone and the house was left lifeless forever.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ BigGame Hunters Owen Cecil Why do you think General Zaroff hunts humans now? Last week my classmates and I read “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. Rainsford, a biggame hunter, falls off his boat and washes ashore to find a large house on a mysterious island. He meets a man named General Zaroff, a very accomplished hunter, who hunts humans because he has become bored of hunting animals. Rainsford’s idea of hunting changes because he now understands the terror of an animal that is being hunted when he is put into their perspective. Rainsford’s perspective of hunting changed once he became the one who was being hunted. “Who cares how a jaguar feels?” This quote explains Rainsford’s idea of animals and their feelings, but he doesn’t know how it feels until he is put into their spot. Before, Rainsford feels that animals have no feelings. When the time came around, Rainsford had a choice, to be the hunter or huntee, or be killed by Ivan. “The choice rests entirely with you. But may I not venture to suggest that you will find my idea of sport more diverting than Ivan’s?” General Zaroff gives Rainsford a chance to decided if he wants to be hunted or be the huntee. Rainsford’s idea of hunting changes most significantly when he puts himself in an animal's perspective. Before the tables turned on Rainsford he thought he was the best hunter in the world. Here is a quote that is not in the “The Most Dangerous Game” but has a good message, “You will always find someone that is better than you”. This would explain Rainsford’s idea of his being the best till he meets General Zaroff. “You’re a biggame hunter, not a philosopher.” Whitney (Rainsford’s past shipmate) explains how Rainsford is a good hunter and he believes he is the best. Once he meets General Zaroff, he realizes that he isn’t the best. “I’ve always thought that the Cape Buffalo is the most dangerous of all big game.” said, Rainsford. He realizes that General Zaroff is also a big game hunter because according to him, the Cape buffalo is the most dangerous of all big game. Rainsford, being the a biggame hunter has never thought of how the animal feels until he is put into their spot. Rainsford’s idea of hunting changes because he now understands the terror of an animal that is being hunted. Before the tables turned on Rainsford he thought he was the best hunter in the world. Rainsford’s perspective of hunting changed once he became the one that was being hunted. Therefore, when the tables turn, one must react to one’s environment and make the best of it. “He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided.” The moral of the story is that when everything come to the worst point, you have focus to succeed.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ Chair Cycle Peter Pochinok If you think life changes around you, think again. Even though life is a cycle, some parts of it do not change. For example, let’s take a chair. A simple classroom plastic chair. Think a bit about a simple chair cycle’s life. Its cycle will always go on, without you noticing it. Well first of all, why are you sitting on that chair? What drove you to get to sit on that chair. I think I sit on this chair because I want to learn and I want to succeed in life. I want to get to a good high school, then to a good college and then to a good workplace The chair cycle will always drive forward. Second, what does the chair symbolize? It can actually symbolize a lot of your achievements in life, your work status, youth and how much you matured. Chair cycle not only goes forward, it brings you up too. It is like a slope if you think about it. You start out from zero and move further and up. Third of all, how does it work? The chair cycle is an ongoing cycle of events that are linked with chairs. Okay, let’s think for a bit. You start off at a school learning all day sitting on that chair, then you go off to high school sit on a chair and study, then you go to a college and again sit on a chair and study. The cycle never stops going, it will always remain with each and every one of us. Without us even knowing. A chair cycle is real and it does not mean it is bad, and nothing in your life will switch. Chair cycle is just an idea. Chairs switch, work switches, responsibilities switch, but the idea stays the same.

Observational Writing For Starbucks Diego Corcuera When I opened the door to enter Starbucks, I could feel the warmth of the environment hitting my face. I smelled the different aromas coming out of the machines. I looked around for an empty space to sit. I found a window seat that was perfect. The seat was very comfortable. I could see the cars passing by and all the snow was piled up on the sidewalks. Then, I stood up and happily walked to the line to order an exquisite drink. While I was waiting in the line, I heard soft pop music playing in the background. Also, I saw a vivid painting full of colors hanging on the wall that made me feel cheerful. Then, I walked to the attentive cashier and put in my order. I waited for an agonizing 2 minutes until I heard my name. I picked up my anticipated drink. Then, as I passed by, I saw people using their computers with headphones on. After returning to the best seat in Starbucks, I started writing about what I was experiencing through my senses. I sat for about 20 minutes listening to the variety of sounds, smelling the distinct aromas, tasting a delectable drink, observing the the activity passing by, and feeling the sense of joy to complete an assignment out of the classroom. Writing in my journal at Starbucks was an exciting experience. The time passed by so quickly, I didn’t want to leave. Ms. Coney told us it was time to return to campus. I opened the door, and I felt the cold wind hit my face. The weather was very cold and I could barely feel my ears. When I stepped up into the van and felt the dramatic temperature change, it made me look forward to the next journal write in a place other than a classroom.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ “Blackjack” Sam Teixeira

My life, the lie. Everything, done. Luck did deny Me of twentyone.. Betting all in, thinking I won I grimace again, determination. Dealer now draws, First two cards. I have no flaws, group of blowhards. ¨Hit me¨ dealer I pray for good. ¨Hit me¨ dealer. knocking on wood. Out comes a four, and then a nine. Just realized. I have twentyfive I do not know what is to come lost my fortune In twentyone.

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Albemarle Grade 9 2016 _________________________________________________________________________ The Two Brothers Braedon Levine One evening, two wise brothers Encountered a wide river In which many had drowned. But, being skilled magicians They created a long bridge That carried the two across. Now, Death felt he was cheated, And so he chose to trick them. And to have them defeated To the first brother Who wanted to defeat his enemies Death awarded him The most powerful wand in the whole world. And to the second Death gave a gift: invisibility. That very same night The first brother defeated an old foe And bragged to others. In bed, the brother was killed by a man Who took the weapon And so Death took the life of the brother For many years, Death looked for the second brother But with his gift unique for him and not others He was still not found. And while the first brother Came to the end, and gave his great gift to another And accepted Death, as if the two were old friends And he will now be peaceful until the world’s end

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Index Yusuke Abe 91 Ugochukwu Achara 159, 176 Michael Allieri 175 Blake Ankner 29, 52 Spencer Ankner 25, 53 Jackson Avila Connerney 177 Emmanuel Aweke 89, 90, 95 Charlie Bacon 48 Tom Banse 120 Andoni Barberena 186, 187 Aiden Barclay 18, 19 Carter Bartel 5, 6, 11, 21, 22, 24 Ethan Bastien 182 Michael Berman 49, 67 Chris Bertolini 6 Collins Billhardt 149 Kamran Bina 89, 93, 94 Daniel Bittner 28, 54, 75, 76 Alastair Bock 117 James Broderick 181 John Broderick 65 Stephen Bruning 114, 148 Connor Burke 173 Will Callewaert 99 Bennett Carroll 6 Owen Cecil 192 Justin Chae 183 Jimmy Chey 131, 132 Mike Choi 89 Diego Corcuera 193 Will Creevy 88, 101 Felix Cutler 113, 133 Max de SaintExupery 125, 126, 136, 127 Abe Dekin 145 Ethan DiTullio 144 Daniel Drucker 6, 17 Alan Du 152, 153 Christopher Eaton 55 Christian Eikeboom 89, 102 Jake Elkins 141 Wyatt Ellison 140 Owen Erdman 24, 45 Daniel Fadely 139 Joseph Fandrey 30 Ryan Fang 183, 184 John Fazli 56, 72, 73 Bennett Fici 100 Larkin Flanagan 128 Myles Foster 115 Oliver Frantzis 36 John Fritz 116 Nicholas Gabrieli 135 Cameron Gaisford 96 Cormac Gallagher 59 Ryan Gallant 53, 77 Ricardo Garcia 113, 115, 117 Ketan Gardner 10 Max Gelb 5, 18, 19 Teddy GemmellHughes 134 Michael Glazer 13, 24 Ben Gliklich 12, 18, 24 Sebastian Goldberg 5 Max Hall 27, 83 Campbell Hawkins 74 Shep Hearle 70 Jack Henderson 57, 63 Jose Hernaiz 113, 143 Freddy Hoffman 25 Louis Hoffmann 113, 115

Christopher Hostetter 100 Eugene Hu 159, 171, 172 Jimmy Hu 170 Tommy Hunnewell 18, 19, 25 William Hutzler 21, 22 Charlie Irwin 33, 66 Amir Jamal 5 David Jeong 96 Jack Jervis 34 William Ji 30, 47 Daniel Jiang 43 Ethan JohnsonLeComte 116, 117, 146 Andrew JohnstonKetterer 29, 38 Noah Kalvelage 44, 71 Andres Kaneb 132, 133 Ian Kaplan 88, 103 Benjamin Katz 42 Gabriel Kendja 134 Bryn Kerslake 21, 22 Aidan Klein 130 Ethan Klein 7, 18, 19 Jake Koeppel 88 Zachary Kornfeld 129 Nate Krawshuk 24, 39, 77, 78 James Lammert 87 Charlie Lavallee 27, 31, 46, 79 Zack Le Roy 87, 90, 112 Duwon Lee 91 Luis Lee 33 Braedon Levine 193 Kyle Levine 104 Ryan Levine 105 Jonathan Lin 157, 158, 169 Mikel Linero 188, 189 Nick Luzzo 168 Wyatt Lyons 87, 88, 90 Ben MacDonald 28, 31, 54 Ryan Mach 127 Jonathan Mack 21 Cameron Mackenzie 62 Jack Mackey 107 Teddy Macri 90 Rhodes Martinez 29, 50, 80 Kieran McCabe 49 Ben McCabe 178, 179 Duncan McCarthy 87 Chase McDivitt 21, 22 Ryan McGauley 5, 25 Lawson Miller 97 Andrew Moon 182 Charlie Moore 113, 114, 116, 117, 120 Azat Mukhametkulov 157, 174 Quinn Mullaney 82 Kumar Muniappan 6, 12 Ryan Noble 46, 47 Takuma Noguchi 59 PJ O'Rourke 24, 85 Shy Odom38 Taiyo Olorode 185 Niki Page 28, 58 Davin Pandian 45 Mann Pandya 115 Anthony Pepi 28 Drew Pepi 21, 22 Koller Phillips 98 Preston Planzer 117 Peter Pochinok 193 Sid Pradhan 15, 25 Connor Provencher 48

Illia Rebechar 189, 190, 191 Tommy Reynolds 83, 84 Ted Richards 35, 68 Thomas Romney 37, 79 Peyton Rose 30, 31, 40, 85 Max Rudnick 116, 124 Jack Ryan 48, 58 John Ryan27, 41, 44, 64 Galym Sarkytbayev 180 Eddie Schwartz 142, 143 Dom Scordino 167 Malkie Shamari 106 Francis Shea 177 Vincent Shea 50 Jaemin Shin 8 Connor Simko 124 Trevor Simboli 154, 155, 156 Tucker Simonsen 158, 161 Rahul Singh 162 Fin Sisson51 Vandrey Sisson 122 Jacob Smalley 114 Matthew Smalley 33, 39, 61 Emmett Smith 124 Alex Soderling 27, 31, 40, 73, 74 Jangmin Song 92 Drew Stephans 51 Hunter Stofer 14 Oliver Stought 121 Henry Su 158, 166 Lachlan Sutton 16, 25 Sam Teixeira 157, 192 Gage Tereau 46 Will Thibodeau 164 Joe Todd 116 Logan Tonra 180 Toby Urell 119 Venkat Vellanki 114, 115, 138 Spencer Vermeule 29, 35, 52 Peter Visco 36, 81 Charles Wang 42, 68, 69 Lincoln Wang 181 Stephen Warming 108, 109 Michael Watson 165 Aaron Weiner 9, 10, 20, 24 Chris Weitzel 81 Ryan Welch 163 Charlie Wells 110, 111 Henry Wilde 88, 89 Mosi Williams 123 Adrian Wirth 87, 90 Avery Wirth 30, 41 Rintaro Yamamoto 157, 158, 159, 172 Cole Zetterquist 150, 151 Blane Zhu114, 147 William Zhuang 92 Spencer Zwik 5