Lauren Contest

A Challenge Worth Overcoming

       

                Have you ever had to cope with something? If so it might have been moving, having a new family member, changing to a different school, or many other changes in life. You're not the only person who has had to make a change. A teenaged girl named Lauren had to cope with something much more difficult. She learned she would have to deal with cancer. Her life had changed forever.
                It started out like any other day until she came home from school and her mom saw something strange. They went to the hospital, and Lauren found out she that she had cancer. Lauren had many challenges that she had to face in the future. She would need to cope with cancer and get used to having a new life.
                Challenges are known to be hard things. When you have caner you are challenged in many ways, like dealing with the pain and having to lose your hair. Lauren was strong and didn't let the challenges get in her way. In Scholastic Scope Magazine it says Lauren put res pebbles in a jar for the says that were tougher than the others, and she put blue pebbles in the jar for the days that were marvelous. In the end she had lots more blue pebbles than red ones. This shows Lauren had coped with the challenges of cancer.
               Dealing with cancer means a new life and a new way of living. Lauren wouldn't be able to go to school and do the things she had loved to do. Instead of having fun and laughing with her friends she would be in a hospital bed fighting for her life. Kristin Kewis writes,"Dealing with cancer isn't just about battling to survive. It's also about learning to cope with a whole new life." That's just what Lauren did. Fortunately, she won the hardest battle of her life and the cancer was gone. However, even though the cancer was gone, her challenge had changed her life forever. Lauren had become stronger, she found out she could do anything.....even if it was hard.

The Lauren Contest- by Audrey Godfrey

The Lauren Contest

How has she coped with the challenges she has faced?

Lauren, a healthy teenager who loved to dance, was surprised, as many are, when doctors found a 15-pound lump of neuroblastoma in her stomach. She had to learn to cope with challenges and also with a new life style. Lauren has coped with the challenges that she has had to face, by looking towards the future, being hopeful, and also keeping track of her days in rock jars. Lauren seemed that she was always looking forward and trying to be positive. Even though some days she was in so much pain that she couldn’t even eat, she maintained a positive attitude towards life and cancer. Rock jars was something that helped Lauren remain positive. She would put a pink rock for the good days and a blue rock for the bad days. Lauren wanted to have more jars filled with pink rocks, than with blue. She said that it helped her see how her journey was going. I think another way that Lauren coped with challenges and a new life by staying positive and looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. A few ways she stayed positive was finding out about her disease, neuroblastoma. She also took online classes to keep up with school, since it was nearly impossible that she attended. She also had lots of support from her family. Lauren was always looking forward when her mom, step-dad and brother visited her. Lauren endured her many challenges through her rock jars and being hopeful. Her life changed in many ways physically and mentally. Through her experience, she was able to become stronger. She was very strong physically, but also mentally. To be able to keep that kind of attitude is truly amazing. Lauren is a perfect example on how we can cope with challenges.

The Lauren Contest

The Lauren Contest

How has Lauren’s life changed?

How has she coped with the challenges she has faced?

Lauren’s life has changed due to many things. First of all, Lauren has become an emotionally and a somewhat physically stronger person. She is now able to do things that cancer wouldn't allow her to do.  Next, Lauren has been able to share her courageous story of dealing with cancer with many people. She has personally inspired me by her amazing story and I believe that she has inspired others as well. Without her determination and willingness to constantly stay strong throughout her battle with cancer she may not have survived. Lauren has coped with her illness in a very positive and optimistic way. For example, in the article it tells how she filled jars in her hospital room with shiny smooth blue and red pebbles depending on how her day was. At the end of the story it shows that there were more red pebbles than blue, showing that she had had more good days than bad. Lauren is a great example on how to cope with hard things in a positive way.

Post for September

    The Ghost Orchestra - Revised for December

      I was walking home from school one day when I heard a strange sound. It was some kind of music. It sounded old and faint. I started following it to see where it was coming from. I rushed into a field just outside of a forest. I soon reached the forest and stopped near the closest tree.The music seemed louder now. The trees were gnarled and evil-looking. I calmed my nerves and stepped into the cool darkness of the forest.  I

      I trotted through the trees, quietly listening to the music. I followed the music for hours, waiting for something other than trees. Suddenly, I heard a faint rumbling noise. It was growing louder, and seemed to be coming this way! I stopped and scanned the trees. I saw a strange white glow. I yelled and dove out of the way. When I hit the ground, I saw something pass very quickly. I got onto all fours and looked at the strange thing. It looked like an old horse carriage, traveling in the direction we were going.

     Stunned, I sprinted after the horse carriage. How could it be going through the trees, I thought as I dodged thick trees. The music was growing louder and louder. I could now see an old mansion.
It was run-down and brown and green with mold. There was a tree growing through the roof. It looked two-story. The windows were boarded up. The ghost carriage was parked outside. It was quite beautiful. I stealthily crept to the front of the carriage. What I saw shocked us.

     The two horses were nothing but skeletons! I started to scream, but remembered that these things were ghosts, and would probably maul me.. I had just stepped out of the way when the horses took off. We walked up to the door and opened it. Inside was a party! Glowing people in fancy dresses and tuxes were dancing with their backs turned to me.In the back was a large orchestra. That's was was causing the eerie music. I walked up to one of the ladies and tapped her on the shoulder. When she turned around, I screamed! Her face was a white skull!

     We charged out of the house and whipped around. Dozens of fancy ghosts ran right trough the wall! I started sprinting through the trees. In the dark, every limb looked like a skeleton. The mob was right behind us, and their glow enabled me to see. My legs were exhausted, so they gave out. I skidded on the dirt, bounced off a root and soared into the field. As I lay on my face, eating dirt, I waited for cold white hands to grasp me. When nothing grabbed me, I got up and looked at the trees. The ghosts couldn't get through. So, feeling relieved and exhausted, I marched home. That is a true story that I made up.

                                   THE END           

Monthly Post - Where Am I?

                                                                     Where Am I?
      I woke up in a mysterious jungle feeling quite confused, it was very sunny and cloudy. The jungle was beautiful and bright green, there were a lot of living things there. For example, there were tree frogs, snakes, silver back gorillas, and even dangerous dragons. The thing is, is that I didn't know if it was dangerous or not.

     Then, I started checking the place out to see if it was okay or not. It turned out that the forest was dangerous. I ran into a big, harry, mean silver back gorilla. After that he nudged me off a thousand foot cliff. Surprisingly I survived, because the sand at the bottom caught me. I know you're thinking sand can't catch me from a thousand foot drop? At that moment, when I was falling I thought that I was going to die.

 I must have hit my head really hard, because then I was in a dry desert. There was nothing there but sand and camels. It was so hot and humid. I looked up at the cliff and I didn't see anything. So I jumped on a camel and said go, but then something really weird happened, the camel spoke. It startled me so much that I was laughing. You usually don't laugh when you are startled, but I guess I did. So we went on and on talking about random stuff, in fact I even think I told him about my gorilla incident. 

 So we went on and on until, we got to this huge sand castle made out of moist sand. Obviously we went inside, then we sat down, "This doesn't feel right," I exclaimed. "You're right," said Barkley the camel. "It's the smell, but not just that it feels like someone is in here," I muttered. "Again you're right," said Barkley. So we checked the place out. Then we found a disco room with "Just Dance 4" in it. We played on that for a while until someone shouted, "Hey, what are you doing in here?" We didn't know what to say but then we told him that we were lost. I introduced myself and my talking camel named Barkley! The guys name was Jay and he was a professional sand castle builder. (I thought that was pretty obvious because he was so good at it!) After that he said he was upstairs getting ready for a party at his friends sand castle right next door. (It didn't cross my mind that the huge castle was actually two big castles.)

      After he was finished getting ready he invited us to the party. I asked him is that would be okay with the owner and he said "Of course!" We headed over there and when we opened the doors I was thinking the party was going to have bright lights and loud pop music, but boy was I wrong! It was a sand castle building party! (What the heck!!!) When we walked in I asked him where the bathroom was and he said upstairs. So Barkley and I went up the long stairs that just seemed like they would never stop!

 Suddenly, I heard this really annoying, "Beep, beep." My alarm clock woke me up. I was shocked that it was my dream, it felt so realistic! Then I told my mom what happened and she said that I was crazy, and she didn't know what I was talking about. So I explained again. She said that she had heard enough, and that I had lost my mind. I said she was probably right, so much for that!

 Finally, I told my dad, and he understood, but why didn't my mom understand? I just think my dad's a dreamer? I have always wanted my mom to be a dreamer. I think she takes it after her mom and dad. I am not going to let her take my dream away, literally. Anyway, I went and told my brothers, and after I told them they said that they wish they had marvelous dreams like that.

 All as I know is that it was a dream, thank goodness. Lets all hope no one gets stranded in a desert, or a jungle like I did. My dad said he once had a dream like that. He didn't have the same dream as me but it was close. He had a hilarious dream. That would be impossible, and crazy if he had the same dream as me. I think I am a dreamer just like my dad.

How to Write An Article: News Writing Assignment

Writing a newspaper article is a little different than other writing.  You need to grab the reader's attention immediately, give important information first, write "tight" (get to the point quickly) and be accurate and unbiased in your reporting.

These two links will give you a good idea of how to write!  Please read one of them as part of your assignment.


Links to Read (choose 1)

Scholastic News Article Writing

Wiki News Article Writing

Now, read the first page of this webquest: Writing Webquest

For your assignment, write a short article (a paragraph) on something that interests you.  Follow the format as listed in the site above.

This is due on Monday, September 8th.  You may hand it in or email/google share.

• Headline: This is a short, attention-getting statement about the event.
• Byline: This tells who wrote the story.
• Lead (first couple sentences): This has ALL the who, what, when, where, why and howin it. A writer must find the answers to these questions and write them into the opening sentence(s) of the article.
• Explanation: After the lead paragraph has been written, the writer must decide what other facts or details the reader might want to know. The writer must make sure that he/she has enough information to answer any important questions a reader might have after reading the headline and the lead paragraph. This section can also include direct quotes from witnesses or bystanders.
• Additional Information:  This information is the least important. Thus, if the news article is too long for the space it needs to fill, it can be shortened without rewriting any other part. This part can include information about a similar event.

The Global Gecko Newspaper Staff

I'm beyond proud of and excited for the Honor class as we brainstormed, discussed, compromised and came up with a fantastic layout for our newspaper.  These will be the groups students will work in until December, when we will reorganize teams:

*Groups will be in charge of deciding exactly what their section will look like.

Layout: David, Shade, Rebekah, Katie
Of the Month: Ellie Stark, Baylee, Brinley, Shayli, Lucy, Annie
School Calendar/Events: Aspen, Shayne, Sierra, Cheyanne, Ellie S.
Argument/Debate: Hallie R., Seth, Skylar, Emily
Entertainment: Sophie, Braden, Alaina, Gia, Jaden
Sports/Outdoors: Ryan, Luke, Quig, Matt, Kyler
Games: Carrson, Ethan H., Locklin, Audrey
Story: Ethan P., Sadie, Taylor, Hallie V.