Memoir Essay

I have had some tough times in my life that have changed me as a person. They have been mostly bad, but also good. My first time that I had trouble with was when my dog died.

Her name was Midnight. She was a black lab, always hyper, and she always was excited. We got her when she was about one. She was the craziest dog ever but she was still the best thing that ever happened to me. When she was two, she got pregnant and had puppies. I was in second grade at the time and it was the middle of winter.

There were thirteen to be exact, except that seven died. My sister, Gabby, and I named them all. We were always playing with them and never got tired of them. Once they were old enough, we started to give them away. It was hard for us because we loved them so much, we just couldn't handle it, but, we gave them all away, except one. It's name was Squeaky; you can imagine why. We couldn't get anyone to take it, so one day my dad brought it to the local Animal Shelter. That was hard for me because we saw him be born and grow up so much.

A year later, Midnight died. My dad said that he went inside to go get something and when he came back, he found her on the road dead. I was so mad that I didn't know what to think or do anything. I was so heart broken that for a month I didn't talk to anyone unless I had to at school or to my parents. It took me about a year to regain my confidence and then we got a new dog.

The second thing that happened to me was that I went to a new school. I was in fourth grade and I was getting tired of people picking on me. My parents knew about this and they were trying to do something about it. Finally, they thought of something.

We were at the supper table and all of a sudden my mom tells us that my parents were tying to get us into a Christian school. I didn't know what to think at first. When I thought about it, I figured that it would be good for me to go to a different school. When it was closer to school being over, my mom brought me over to Prinsburg to visit the kids that would be in my class next year. It was weird right when I walked in. No lockers, there was verses written on the wall, and there were pianos in the rooms. I forgot that it was a Christian school, not a public school.

The next year, I was in Prinsburg school. At first, I missed my friends and I wanted to go back, then I started to get use to it. I thought it was still weird not to have lockers, but I got used to it. It was hard for me to learn because the grading scale was harder, I never learned what they were reviewing, and I didn't know anyone. I got through fifth grade and I made friends and I was excited to go back the next year.

I learned over the years that if you let people or things go, in the long run, you will get them back, or you will get something like it. I have had some events that have changed me and made me who I am today. I know that I am going to have more events that will change me to be more like what I will be when I get older.

Any Topic Essay

I have a fun time in 4-H. We have a lot of fun times at the meetings and at the fair. We do all sorts of things, even help others. Normally, we will just have a meeting and find out what's happening and what we are going to do next time. We only meet once a month.

I go to the Danube Full-O-Pep club. We aren't that big of a group, but we are all girls. We go to the Renville Nursing Home and play Bingo and sometimes we even bring our rabbits to show them. One time, we went there and no one from our 4-H club got a Bingo, all of the elders got it. For prizes, we have candy or just a little snack. We try to go there about four times a year because the elders really like it.

Another thing we do is plant flowers. Every spring, once it gets warmer, we plant flowers at the Danube Community Center and the Danube Depot. When we plant flowers at the Depot, there are two little bins that are filled with dirt. We put in some Miracle Grow and then we stir it up and put in flowers. At the Community Center, there is an edge with lots of space. We don't put any other dirt because it already has enough dirt already. After we plant the flowers, we usually have our monthly meeting.

Once it starts getting close to the end of the school year, we start to have dog and horse training. Dog training is where we take our dogs and teach them to do different tricks with and without leashes. In horse training, we play games and also learn to do different tricks.

In the summer, we have meetings outside at the Danube park or we go on trips. We also go bowling if it is raining outside. When it is about two weeks before the fair, its the dog show. It is at the fair grounds and it is really hot. At the end of the summer, it's the county fair. We show a lot of animals. There are cows, horses, chickens, pigs, sheep, goats, and even llamas. Horses, cows, and llamas are in one barn and then the other building. It is really hot, but a lot of fun. We go there at about eight in the morning and get home at about eleven. On the first day, we just unpack everything and get our animals in their pens. After we are done, we go walk around and find our other friends to hang out. We go on rides and hang out with our animals.

On the second day, we go early and clean the cages. Then I have to go and clean my horse for the show. It's fun to give her a bath because it's hot so; it feels good to get splashed with water. After the show, we go and walk around. At night, we ride more rides and hang out late. The third day, we go and I get ready to play in the horse games. It's a lot of fun because you don't have to worry about looking nice or making sure that our horse does the right thing. After the games, we just hang out in the stalls and cool off as much as we can. Then we hang out again.

On the last day, we load everything up. Not a lot of people go on the last day, so we don't miss anything that amazing. It starts to get crazy at the end because we need to get all of our stuff taken out at a specific time. After the fair, we are happy with what we got in our rewards and can't wait until next year.

4-H is a lot of fun for anyone. We do lots of fun things and it doesn't matter how old you are. I haven't been in 4-H for long, but ever since I've been in it, I've enjoyed every minute of it. It is a good way to make new friends and even learn so much that you don't even realize it.

Celebration Essay

My cousin, Britt, is an amazing person. She is a couple months younger and a grade under me, but she is the best. We are together every time we can be. We have gone through a lot together. When our uncle died, we were there to comfort each other through everything. He was our favorite uncle; we would go over to his house and help him do whatever he needed to get done.

Ever since we were babies, we were inseparable. When we were younger, we would always go to each other houses and hang out. We got separated when I started to come to this school, but after awhile, we started to hang out again. We've done everything gone to the movies, gone shopping, and even gotten our hair cut at the same time when we were very little.

We've gone to each other's houses and done each other's chores. I go to her dad's house once in a while and help with their cows. We are in 4-H together and do the same projects. We are both in dance and we always make little moves up when we are bored. In the summer, we live at each other's houses for weeks at a time.

Britt has inspired me to be afraid of nothing and not to give up if you “fall off the saddle” because we always fall off our horses when we race. She also has helped me be grateful for my family and how I am blessed to have my parents married. Every time we hang out, I get this feeling that I should just be myself and not worry about what people think about me because it is hard for us girls.

One time, Britt and I were walking in Renville when we saw my other cousin, Autumn. She was walking with her dad's girlfriend's son, Phoenix. She said that Phoenix and her had to get groceries and do some other things for Eric and Steff because they didn't want to. Britt offered to help and that made me realize how she offered for both of us. I was amazed that she didn't say “ok” because they didn't get along that well, but she offered. I was really happy about that and even after, I was happy for helping them. That made me realize that even though you don't really like someone, doesn't mean that you can't help them.

Britt has inspired me to do so much that it is hard to not be grateful for everything I have. We are like sisters and that will never change. It is hard for us to get in fights because we agree on almost everything. We hang out all the time and make sure we aren't doing anything a week before it happens. Britt has changed me in good ways and bad, but we usually make the right choices.

Compare/Contrast Essay-Cherleading vs. Dance

Dance and cheerleading are common sports, but there is a difference between the two. People think that cheerleading and dance are similar, but they are also different. Cheerleading is easy if you know how to dance. Just like if you know how to play baseball, it will be easy to know how to play cricket.

Dance and cheerleading are similar and different. The thing that are unique about dance is that dance has no flips in the routine. It depends on what kind of dance you want to do: jazz or high kick that will be in the routine. Jazz is when you do lots of arm movements and not that many kicks. High kick is where you have to have a certain amount of kicks over your hip that you have to do. It is also a winter sport. It only lasts from the beginning of December to the middle of February. Also, dance only performs during half time and between basketball and even sometimes at football games. We never perform during the games.

In cheerleading, there are flips that you do to get the crowd excited at games. It is like the floor performance, except that there are people helping you by throwing you in the air. They cheer during the games and cheer on the team at the sidelines. They are also annoying at times. Cheerleaders also dance not to songs during games. It is an all year sport. The only time there isn't practice is in the summer.

The things that are the same is that they both compete against other teams in competition and everything counts; the precision, the moves, and especially the way you are together. There are specific routines that you learn and that follow the rules of the state. They have to be a certain length of the music that you compete with. You have to be flexible to be in dance and cheerleading. You need to be able to do the splits and you need to be able to kick high. They both dance to music and most people don't think that they aren't sports because there isn't a ball involved.

There are lots of differences and some similarities between dance and cheerleading. Most people think that they are about the same. The fact is, they are mostly different from each other. Dance and cheerleading are actual sports and they are in the state sport rules.

Persuasive Essay-School Lunches

School lunches aren't as good as they once were. The school regulations have changed, not just the food, but ultimately how much the kids are eating. Students aren't gaining anymore taste or nutrition with these new changes in lunch regulations. People have been throwing most of their food away because it isn't good. 

There have been changes in the food and the kids. They don't find any taste and refuse to eat it, so they throw it away. There has been a lot of extra food in the garbage the could be in our stomaches. There also has been food not taken in the lunch line. Most kids aren't taking vegetables or salad. 

There are smaller portions of food. So if it is good, we don't have enough that we are still hungry after lunch. It doesn't help that we are growing more than ever and need more food. When we don't eat that much, we end up not paying that much attention in class. 

There is no more salt at the tables so we either have to bring our own or borrow someone else's, which it doesn't make sense because we use it anyways. When we have fries, they aren't as good as they are with salt. Most of the things we eat, most people eat with salt. 

Lunches cost too much. The lunches are being too expensive for people to pay for them. Some people have to bring their own lunches because they can't afford the school lunches. More and more people are starting to bring lunches and more and more food is being wasted. 

The facts say that we are more likely to be better off with the old lunch regulations. Not only are we eating less, we also haven't been taking in that much nutrition. The facts say that it would be wiser to let us have salt because we don't have any fat people at our school so none of us are gaining anything because most of us are all in some sport.

Book Review

Book Review

Ariel Hanson

    Annemarie is a strong willed child.  She, her best friend Ellen, and her little sister Kirsti are unstoppable.  Annemarie and Ellen do everything together, followed by Kirsti.  They have everything in common.  They live in the same apartment building, they are in the same grade, and same age.  The only thing that they have different, is that Ellen is Jewish.

They don’t know what is going on in the world.  They are just happy together and that’s fine, right? Lois Lowry does an amazing job in the fiction book Number the Stars  telling about Annemarie, her friends, and her family and about things that happened in Denmark  when the Germans took over.

They aren’t scared of anything until they run into Nazi guards after school.  They start to be a little scared but after awhile they don’t remember it,  until people start going missing.  Annemarie and her family start to worry about Ellen and her family.

     Finally, the Johansens get so worried that they have Ellen come live with them.  Annemarie doesn’t know what is going on and no one tells her until her family finds out when the Nazis are coming.  When she finds out what is happening to the Jews, she gets stronger for her family and the Rosens.  The Nazis come and it was a close call for all of them.  
    A day later, Annemarie’s mother takes Annemarie, Ellen, and Kirsti to their uncle’s house in Klampenborg.  Annemarie is happy that’s she’s safe from the guards and with her best friend.  They have so much fun and Annemarie is so happy to share the ocean with Ellen.  The first night, Ellen finds out everything.  Annemarie is sad that Ellen has to leave with her parents and go to Sweden. She finds out about what her uncle does and how much his life is at stake; along with  all of the other fishermen.

The next day, Annemarie finds her mom with a broken foot laying by the path that leads to town.  Annemarie finds her mother and helps her mother to the house, she finds this package that she remembers Peter give it to Mr. Rosen.  Her mom looks at it and tells Annemarie to go run to the boats and give it to her uncle.  

On the way, she runs into guards and she starts to act like Kirsti, who acts like a little girl who doesn’t know many things.  She gets past them and sprints to her uncle’s boat.  There, she gives her uncle the hankerchief and goes home.  That night when Annemarie’s uncle comes home, he tells her that he saved the Rosen’s life.

I really liked this book because it tells about some troubles that a family went through and how they got through them.  It’s was interesting to know how some people helped the Jews and how the Nazis got rid of them.  I thought people were brave of what they did even though they knew that their life was at stake.

   

Fiction Story-Partners

Avra was a green-eyed, brown-haired, fourteen year old with a good heart. She lived on a farm in Guatemala, by the little town of San Martin, with her mom, dad, older brother, and younger twin brother. Her parents were missionaries, so she was originally from the United States. She cared about her family so much that she never went, or wanted to go to school.

 She just stayed home and took care of the animals. Her dad was a coffee bean farmer and had to leave very early and come home very late. Avra wasn’t scared of anything, she had two brothers who always tried to pulled pranks on her, and she also wasn’t afraid to get dirty. The guys from San Martin liked her for that but she didn’t really want to date, and her dad was very strict about that because she was daddy’s little girl.

One day she was making lunch when her twin brother, Andy, came in. “Penelope is giving birth!” he yelled.

Penelope was her horse. She loved her dearly and she only would allow her dad to take care of her when she was gone. She was so excited that she dropped the cheese grater and cheese and raced after Andy. When they got to the barn, she quickly knelt by her older brother, Jose, and started to talk to Penelope and calm her.

Avra tried all her way to keep Penelope calm, but she could tell she was going through a lot of pain. She started to pray that God would help her, but it was too late. Penelope was dead. Right after Penelope stopped breathing, Ava was born. Avra was heart broken. She got Penelope when she was just a foal and had her for six years. They did everything together. Avra even brought her into town with her when she went to the market once a week.  An hour later, their dad got home. He realized that they were in the barn. He came in and right away he saw Avra lying by Penelope, crying.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. He had no idea what was going on.

“Penelope died while giving birth!” Avra cried.

“What?!” her dad questioned. Then he saw the little foal, Ava. He walked over to her and started to pet her. “She’s a beauty,” he told Avra.

“She’s just like her mom.” Avra responded.

“Did you feed her?” Avra’s dad asked.

“Yep.”

“Let’s go inside, then, and finish supper before mom gets home.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You need to eat something.”

“I’m not hungry!”

“Doesn’t’ matter. You are coming inside.”

“I just wanna stay here, with Ava.”

“Fine, but you are coming in an hour.”

“Okay.”

Just thirty minutes later, Avra was sound asleep. She was so tired she didn’t wake up when her dad carried her into her room. She dreamt of Penelope and her riding on the old dirt road to San Martin. Avra was scared of something, but she didn’t know what. Penelope was running as fast as she could. All of a sudden, Penelope fell.

Avra woke up suddenly, sweat rolling down her forehead. It took her some time to notice that she was in her room and that she was dreaming about the one time when she was ten. She had been doing chores in the barn; when she saw someone take some chickens. She gasped and the man heard her. She quick ran to Penelope’s stall and quickly jumped on her. The guy ran behind them, but he realized that he couldn’t catch up. Avra had forgotten what her dad told her not to run Penelope after a rain. She had forgotten and so Penelope slipped. Avra was in the hospital for a month with a torn lung, a broken leg, and broken arm.

When Avra returned home, she lived in the barn for a week. No one could get her out; she wouldn’t even leave to eat. She would just lay in the hay stack, with an old blanket and didn’t care what went on when she was sleeping.

Avra walked to her window and opened the curtain. It was bright outside. She realized that she slept all through morning chores. She ran downstairs to go feed Penelope, and then she remembered what happened. Penelope died. She still went outside to see little Ava. She walked into the barn and right away, she say Avra drinking out of a calf bottle held by her dad.

“Good morning, Avra. Ava has been waiting for you. She’s been watching the door since I’ve been here this morning.” Her dad said,  

“What time is it? It seems like I’ve been asleep for a long time.” Avra asked.

“It’s about noon. Are you hungry?”

“No. Did you bring me in last night?”

“Yep, I came to tell you to come in an hour later and you were sleeping so hard I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Oh. Can I feed her? I want her to get to know me better before I start breaking her in.”

“I don’t think you need to think about breaking her in, Avra. She’s only a day old and we have to wait until she’s one, at least. But you can come feed her.”

Avra walked over and took the bottle from her dad. She was surprised when she realized that Ava was a fast learner to bottle feed. It only took Ava about fifteen more minutes to finish the bottle, and right after she walked up to Avra and started to nudge her arm. Avra started laughing and saw Penelope in her. She always did that, she thought.

 Every day she would go out and feed her, brush her, and even sneak some apples for her. She knew that she was going to be an amazing horse, like her mother.

The next day, they buried Penelope. Friends came to watch and they were all so sad for Avra because they knew how much she meant to her. They buried her at her favorite corner in the pastor where she would always stand and watch the front door for Avra to come out.

Eleven months later...

Avra woke up on Monday morning and hurried up to get ready. This was the day that her dad was going to let her start breaking Ava. She didn’t even bother to eat breakfast; she was too excited to start. She ran outside and quickly fed Ava. While she was eating, Avra brushed her and braided her tail and main. She was used to doing it fast, because Penelope was never patient. After that, she quickly got the saddle and halter. She was used to breaking in horses, except they were older and didn’t know who she was.

She brought Ava down to the little arena and put the mat on and the saddle, she didn’t put the saddle on too tight so Ava could get used to it. Then she walked her around a little bit. After Ava got comfortable, she tightened the saddle to her size. Ava started to buck but Avra got her calm and finally, she got used to this.

Avra’s dad came out and started to help her get on. Right when she got on, Ava started to buck. Avra was ready, though, and hung on. Her dad and Avra got Ava calmed and finally they got her walking. She walked uncomfortably, but at least she was walking, Avra thought.

“I think that’s it for today.” Avra’s dad told her, the sun was setting.

“Okay, I’ll put her back.” Avra jumped down and started to walk Ava to her stall.

Inside the house, it smelt like potato soup and fresh bread. Her mother had made beans with rice and corn. Her mom gave her a hug and asked how it was going. Avra said that it was going well and that Ava was a fast learner.

Every day, Avra and her dad would go and work with Ava. She was a fast enough learner that it only took a month. Every Sunday, Avra would take Ava for a ride in her dad’s fields. They would take a break at a stream and they would sit there until the sun was setting. One day, Avra was sitting on a rock by the stream and realized, she and Avra were partners and that would never change no matter what happens.  She was Penelope’s daughter and that made Ava Avra’s partner for life.