50 Word Personalized the Vocab List – Ava

1) solitary ~ alone; by themselves 
2) fatigue ~ when you are worn out or not feeling well.
3) deceitful ~ misleading; dishonest 
4)negligent ~ lazy 
5)catastrophe ~ a big sudden disaster 
6) simultaneous ~ at the same time
7)compilation ~ something collected like a list
8) consolidate ~ to come together; stronger 
9)corrosion ~ eaten away 
10)humanitarian ~ helping people
11)coincide ~ to agree; simultaneously
12) jubilant ~ joy
 13)turbulence ~ movement, commotion
14)composure ~ calm; control 
15)therapeutic ~ healthy 
16)immobile ~ when something can’t move on it’s own
17)optimist ~ when someone is up for anything. Positive 
18)unprincipled ~ when someone has no rules
19)avid ~ enthusiastic

20)bizarre ~ when something is strange 
21)conservative ~ traditional
22)crucial ~ heart breaking 
23)crusade ~ on a quest

24)dialect ~ talking 
25)enhance ~ to make something more clear
26)eventful ~ exciting, enjoyable, thrilling 
27)evolve ~ transforming into something better
28)acquaintance ~ someone who you know but aren’t friends with
29)flair ~ something unique about a person 
30)forfeit ~ change of plans 
31)intervene ~ going into something 
32)Memoir ~ reminds 
33)panorama ~ long picture

34)despair ~ in sorrow 

35)ponder ~ to think about something 
hamper to distract one. 

,
36)ruthless ~ brave
37) sustainable ~ can handle something 
38)commotion ~ a lot going on around 
39)disrupt ~ doing the wrong thing a the wrong moment
descendant ~ a grandchild 
40)radiant ~ special 
41) devious ~ not proper, sly

42)counterpart ~ identical; resembles something 
43) submissive ~ obedient
44)prevail ~ succeeding, popular 

45) rigorous ~ harsh
46) immerse ~ put into liquid 
47) fabricate ~ to make
48) stature ~ the height of something
 49) malignant ~ wanting/showing to harm others
50) override ~ having the power

1500 Word Story – Ava

Chapter 1: The Dream

          Hi, my name is Ava Boyd. When I was a child I dreamed of going to outer space. In school we would learn about how space worked and how there would be no gravity. I always wanted to fly like a bird, that’s probably why I was so interested in “zero gravity”. I guess everyone dreams of flying because they want to go beyond the limits, but If I could go to space and fly, my dream would come true. I think my name also means bird, but that’s besides the point. Everyone in school would always bully me because I was so determined to be an astronaut. They thought I wasn’t smart enough or brave enough. Even my parents said that is was too big of a dream for just an average little girl like me. Sure, sometimes school was a struggle, but those comments made me strive to prove them wrong. 
         I went to Concord High School in New Hampshire in 1983. I was doing pretty good and involved in many things. My dream wasn’t as big of a goal but I still wanted to achieve it. There was this thing going around about how teachers could sign up for the “teacher in space program.” The teachers could also pick a student to go with them. I guess it was because NASA wanted to get children to like space. Maybe NASA thought they could convince kids that exploring space was cool by sending a teacher to space. One of our teachers applied for the program, my social studies teacher, Christa McAuliffe. She would be the first educator astronaut.
          Finally we heard the news, my teacher was chosen to go to space! If I were the student chosen to go with her, then surely I would know going to space was my destiny. We all put our names in a bucket for them to pick from. She picked a boy named Jared Keith, but since he was sick that day they picked another student. Guess who it was… Me! I knew what I was getting myself into with all the preparation to go to space. I’m probably going to miss the rest of my junior year but I didn’t care. I got to go to NASA! I went through physical examinations and tests to make sure I was fit to go into space. There was so much work and preparation but it is going to be worth it.
Chapter 2: Space

          We had been training for five months, and now it was time to say goodbye. Finally, I was going to space; my dream was coming true. It was my destiny! 5 4 3 2 1 BLAST OFF. It felt so quick; It was almost like a dream. I didn’t really feel anything, it was almost as if I was hallucinating. When we were getting ready for take off I think I blacked out. Then which felt like a minute later, I woke up and I was in space. It was beautiful. It was everything I saw in books, on television, and in my dreams but it also was sort of strange and peculiar at the same time. Everyone was fine and ready to explore. The crew was assigned to travel many places. First we visited planets like Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. It was spectacular!
Chapter 3: Realization          

          Then stuff started getting weird. It was like I wasn’t even in space anymore, but yet I was. Was I dead? I didn’t even know how I died. You think I would have noticed right? I mean, there was a couple of hints like why I blacked out or why my reality felt like a dream. Everything just went right through me. All of my worries washed away but I was confused on what happened to me. Don’t I have to go through a trial so I could get into heaven? I think that’s going to be farther down the road but first I want to know how I died. Our spaceship was starting to shutdown and landed on a planet that I don’t think didn’t exist in our world. We could ask questions and a voice would answer.

           I asked “if we were dead, how did we die?” 

           The voice asked if we were ready. I grabbed my crew because I think we should all hear this together. We all didn’t really know what we were expecting but we knew we wanted to know. 

           All of us answered “Yes!” 
          The voice explained how, and the memory was finally forming in our minds. We were all shocked. (Not literally shocked but you know what I mean). Taking off, seconds after leaving the ground, our spaceship exploded and killed all of us inside. I guess we were kind of famous for our deaths since everyone was watching. I can’t really describe what I felt at that moment. I was thinking about my parents, my family, and my friends. The voice also said we can only visit the living in their dreams. I didn’t want to make people upset but that could be one last goodbye to everyone. All of the dreams I traveled in, everyone cried when they saw me. I gave them a hug and disappeared in their arms. It’s hard letting go. All memories haunt us in their own way. It can bring us sadness to look back at the good times, but everything has to come to an end. 
Chapter 4: Change

          Our spaceship turned on again, so I guess that was a sign we had to leave. Our next stop was a small moon where we would decide what happens to our souls. A different voice asked each of us what we would pick: reincarnation or our very own heaven. I was the last to choose. Everyone in my crew picked heaven; I guess they were ready to leave the world. I was just a teenager, I wasn’t ready to leave so I picked reincarnation. I said more goodbyes and followed the voice away from where we were. I was in a room where I could pick what I wanted to be. So many choices but I had all time I wanted. There was a limit on how many human lives we could have, so I decided to be an animal. After my decision was made, I would fall asleep then wake up in my new life.
Chapter 5: Finally Flying 

        In my new life I was born in Pet Co. 1985. Humans took care of me and I had my little space on the side of the store when you first walked in. I didn’t really get to fly as much as I wanted to but I got what I asked for. Yes I am a bird. Funny how that works out because as you know when I was human I always wanted to fly like a bird; now I am one. I am a parakeet, mostly old people like these types of birds but I see kids come in and have an eye on me. One day I saw my little sister came in. At first I didn’t think it was her but then I also saw my mom come in. My sister Chloe came straight towards me. She told my mom she wanted a bird because they reminded her of me. My mom couldn’t say no to her after what had happened to me. I guess they moved away to Maine after the incident, maybe they had to start fresh with new people in their lives that didn’t know them. I could understand.
          They took me home and they also got me a mini house. Pet Co. said I was a really smart bird and could be trained to go to the bathroom in a certain place. They also let them know that I won’t fly away from the house if I know I’m safe. They knew I was “trained” well enough not to be cooped up in a cage so they would leave the bathroom door open so I could do my business in there, when they would leave the house. This was the perfect life, I got to comfort my family in their time of need and fly around the house. I only live 13 years as a parakeet and that was just right.
Chapter 6: Heaven Living 

          Once I died from that life I was ready for heaven. I started to hear voices, and the most beautiful singing. I opened my eyes and saw a place everyone dreams of going; it was a place of peace. I was ready to be set free and rest my soul. I could do whatever I desired because it was my heaven. I could travel realm to realm. I could visit any time period and explore places I have never imagined before. I could live the life in heaven I didn’t get to live as a human. I was anything I wanted to be and I soon saw everyone I knew and wanted to meet. Everything was perfect and nothing was boring. You are only really living when you are dead. Life was just a line to get into a party. 
1,527 words

Space and I, space and eye, or space an die?

The Butterfly Circus Essay – Ava

                                                                                                    “Acceptance”
          The butterfly circus was written by Joshua Weigel and Rebekah Weigel. This short film it is about a man named Will who was once who seemed sad because of his tetra-amelia syndrome. I noticed that after he met Mr. Mendez (the butterfly circus master), he was happy since he was in the show because of who he was and what he can do; not because of his appearance. The character began to positively affect lives of others through his act he performs. Will for example, his insecurities affected his life but he stoped thinking about what was wrong with him and began to embrace who he was and everybody else can at least try to do the same. The butterfly circus is similar to people in school who struggle to find their place or purpose. We all have insecurities, but if you overcome them you can live a better life. 
          To start, people were amazed. He could walk. He could swim. He was magnificent. Will was so unique; he was the unicorn of the circus. The lives of others were inspired. This movie is relatable because people who have disabilities equivalent to him could look up to him. In the beginning Will probably was ashamed of who he was. The sideshow host even said he was a man God turned his back upon, but once he joined the butterfly circus and performed, he realized he made people happy, and he knew that was his purpose in life. People generally want to follow and copy someone they admire so if they see someone confident in who they are, they want to be confident in who they are. It forms a drive to prove themselves to the world. Everyone is too busy thinking about themselves so why would they care that much about your appearance. It is what you think of yourself and not what others think of you. “If you could only see the beauty that can come from ashes.” – Mr. Mendez.
             Additionally, In the butterfly circus the characters were lost in who they were or what their purpose was in life. Some of the characters had a rough time before Mr. Mendez took them in. They discovered their special talents and lived happily. Mr. Mendez is as a best friend in school, he gives good advice and one can be themselves around him. All people try to fit in and see where our place is with different types of groups and school is when people judge the most, but why should anybody care what other people think? If you have something different about yourself, usually people remember the person by that. It’s the life one chooses to live. Isaiah 41:10 fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
          Furthermore, can insecurities shape someone into a lousy person or a sweet person? Well if one is not insecure about anything they might be a really arrogant person and if one is insecure sometimes you could turn out to be mean to others so they don’t be mean to you first. On the other hand insecurities can make you a shy person because most of the time you don’t want to stand out, but it really depends on the person. If people don’t care about our insecurities then people tend to feel normal and boring but nobody wants to feel normal, right? People are known for individuality and it is a part of us so can one really just brush it off? A person shouldn’t live feeling crappy for themselves but one can accept the flaws they have and live happily. I had a great deal of arrogance and a great deal of bravado, but I think the bravado was brought on by a huge insecurity. – Brian Molko.
          To conclude, there is more to a person than just their insecurities. Don’t let fear or insecurity stop you from trying new things. Believe in yourself. Do what you love. And most importantly, be kind to others, even if you don’t like them. – Stacy London. After Will performed in the circus he wasn’t ashamed of not having any arms or legs he so he is a role model for people to show that anybody can overcome their insecurities. 

Martin Luther King Jr. Digital Art Piece – Ava

Martin Luther King Jr. Digital Art Piece – Bri

The History of Paint Horses – Bri

For this project we choose something and learn the history of it. I choose to learn the history of Paint Horses, I chose this topic because I have always been really fascinated by this breed of horse. I also chose this topic because I have a horse who is a part of this breed so I felt that it would be great for me to learn more about the breed. So far I’ve learned that the breed came from the Spanish/ Native Americans they brought the breed over to the states. I’ve also learned that Paint Horses have three types of patterns.

The Greenville Girl Story/Analysis

Analysis: 

My class mate, Lucy Colendich, wrote a story called The Greenville Girl. It was thrilling and eventful. I liked this story out of everyone else’s I read because other people’s seemed like it was written by a first grader or the writing didn’t really have me hooked and sometimes I was confused and I couldn’t tell what was going on in the story. Lucy’s story was just right for me. It wasn’t something I would write and It was kinda cliche because at the end she was dreaming and I’ve heard stories like that before. But I liked Lucy’s story because it was easy to read and it was good writing

The Butterfly Circus – Bri

I thought that The Butterfly Circus was a sad and inspirational movie. I also think that there was a lot of symbolism in this movie. I like how the circus was kind of a safe place for everyone who was apart of The Butterfly Circus and gave people who felt left out of society or were different then what people said how they should be or look like a second chance to live a happy life, to love them selves and who they are. Watching this movie has made me think that anyone can do anything they put their mind to and to never give up no matter how many people tell someone they can’t do it, it’s better to prove them wrong then to not try at all.