Sebastian Z.

DARE

Dare was really fun this year!  I learned about alcohol, smoking, bullying and peer pressure and how to get out of a sticky situation.  Officer Mark made learning very fun by incorporating games like DARE baseball.  

In DARE I learned how to make good decisions. In DARE we used our DARE decision making model; define, assess, respond and evaluate.  The way we used our DARE decision making model was Officer Mark showed us a quick video and we would talk about what we would do.  For example, if someone was trying to get me to smoke a cigarette or buy cigarettes,  I would say NO! If that person was one of my friends pressuring me to try it, it is called peer pressure.  I could choose to try it or not. I would choose to say no and then walk away.  Do you know that there are 200 known chemicals that can harm you in cigarettes? I would not want to harm my body and be unhealthy.

In DARE we talked about smoking and how harmful it is to your body. People want to smoke because of the nicotine cigarettes contain. The nicotine makes the cigarettes addicting. It is illegal for people under 18 to buy tobacco. I think that they should raise the age to 20.  Every year many people die from cigarettes.  In the United States greater than 400,000 people die  per year from smoking. There are about 50,000 people who die from being around people that smoke.  Smoking is bad for your health because it can cause cancer and damage your teeth and skin.

In my DARE class I also learned about bullying and how it is bad to bully people. I learned  if someone is mean to me or another person I should get a parent or a responsible adult to help me.  Bullying is bad because it can hurt a person’s feelings and it gives a person a bad reputation.  To help stop bullying, I can stand up for myself and say STOP! I can also stick up for another person who is getting bullied.

 Another thing I learned about in DARE was alcohol and how it can affect you.  Alcohol can cause slow reflexes and coordination loss.   For example,  if you were driving and you had to hit the brakes fast,  you probably could not.  Another bad thing about alcohol  is that it causes 75,000 alcohol related deaths each year in the U.S.. You have to be 21 years old to drink alcohol and many young people don’t follow that rule.

Overall, in all of my DARE classes this year, I had fun, learned a lot and most importantly learned how to keep my body safe and healthy.  Thank you Officer Mark!

T.J. B.

D.A.R.E. Essay 

This year in fifth grade we learned about D.A.R.E.  DARE stands for Drug, Abuse, Resistance, Education. Officer Mark was our D.A.R.E teacher and would come in from his work day to teach us about DARE for 50 minutes in Ms.Calhoun’s class. I looked forward to my Tuesdays with Officer Mark.

One of our lessons was about stress. Stress is a strain, or pressure, that is put on you by your friends, or any other people around you. If someone is putting stress on you to do something like smoke a cigarette, drink a type of alcohol, or do something daring, you can use different strategies to say “NO”. Walking away or making up an excuse are two of my personal favorites. We learned that this is also referred to as Peer Pressure. Peer stands for people, and the pressure is when someone is forcing you to do something. There may be a time when your friends dare you to  “throw the ball through the window”. What we learned is to either change the subject, say “Hey I think my mom is here, I have to go!”, or to simply walk away.

There are about 400,000 alcohol related deaths a year. There are 75,000 people who die from alcohol alone. An example of a alcohol related injury could be a family just going to enjoy Ice Cream, while there is a drunk driver who crashes into the car and causes serious injuries. Alcohol is a drug, but I did learn that it is one drug that you can choose to use if your 21 years old or older. The damage alcohol can do, no matter what age you are,  can still damage any organ in your body.

There are more than 200,000 smoking deaths in the U.S.A. There are more than 300 known chemicals in each cigarette. The drug that is in a cigarette is called Nicotine. It is illegal to smoke a cigarette if you are under the age of 18. Cigarettes can damage your lungs, cause yellow teeth, and can cause bad breath. You can eventually die from years of smoking, no matter what age you are.

In DARE class, we also talked alot about bullying versus what it means to be “mean”. Being mean is doing something unkind to a person once or twice. Bullying, however, is doing something mean over, and over again to the same person. Where bullying usually happens is at school in the cafeteria, recess, or where there is not as much adult supervision to stop the bullying. There is also something called cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying on the internet, or social media. These can be Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. I think this can be just as harmful, or even more harmful than physical bullying because on social media, there is a much larger peer audience.

Officer Mark taught us DARE but made it lots of fun! We even played  DARE baseball. When you are up to bat you would ask for a single, double, triple, or homerun question. For each hit, you earn the amount of bases, by giving the correct answer!. Soon, we have the DARE baseball World Series. I really enjoyed having Officer Mark as my teacher!

Pledge:

I promise to stay drug free and make thoughtful decisions about all drugs.  

Monica C.

My eyes gazed out the window of my mom’s car in a trance. As the sleek, black car slowly  
rolled into the driveway, my eyes caught a small, wooden tree house surrounded by looping
vines and towering trees. I snapped away from my trance, and nearly jumped out of my seat
as I saw new steps unfolding from it. The sun glinted on the railings around the perimeter and
the poles coming up from every corner. Was the tree house done? I questioned myself.
What am I waiting for? I’ve gotta’ find out! I thought excitedly. I unbuckled my seat belt
as fast as lighting, and flung the door open. I leaped out of the car and slammed the door
shut. I then bolted across the glistening grass.

My heart thumped against my chest as loud as a performer tapping against a microphone,
as I thought of all the possibilities of things that we could do in the tree house.
We could paint it, wait, that would take too much work. Maybe, Sonia and I could
bring up chairs and tables to create a house, no parents allowed!
That would be so awesome! Ideas raced through my mind, and I took time to take a
look at each one, deciding if it was possible or not. I attempted to keep myself thinking,
because it seemed as if it was taking a million years to get to the tree house. I felt the
butterflies in my stomach flutter even more vigorously as I slowed to a stop in front
of the treehouse. I heard a loud, buzzing of a drill, and smelled the scent of fresh,
new wood lingering. I saw my dad installing the final, absolutely final,
no-other-step-after-this-step, step.  Large pieces of wood laid around, along
with all sorts of sharp of tools. My heart was still racing as I blurted to my dad without
thinking,” Can I go up?! Please!!!” I felt like a little kid, bouncing up and down.
My dad leaned back with a sigh, and he looked at me with a tired face.

“Yeah, sure. You may want to be care-”

“Ok!” I called back, interrupting him. I then, started making my way up the steps.
I grasped the cool metal handles, and peeked at the interior. A few nails and tools
were scattered across the \wood-decked floor, but I didn’t care. I admired how much
space there was! You could fit a football field in here! I exaggerated in my mind.
I pulled myself up. I sighed in relief that the floor stayed firm underneath me.
I headed to the back of the tree house, wanting to take a glimpse at the woods.
I ran my hand against the smooth railing and stared in shock at the woods.
The nearby trees waved their branches, the sun glistening on their bright leaves,
as to welcome me in the tree house. The thin canopy of leaves laying across the
top of the woods made the sun shine upon the ground in ripples. Leaves, of all sizes,
were scattered practically everywhere in a lush green. In the distance, I saw fallen trees,
groups of large, moss-covered rocks, and dilapidated logs. I felt as if I was in a scene
from a fairy tale. As I observed the woods, my mind drifted. One thought made my
snap back into reality. If it wasn’t for my dad, I wouldn’t be able to look at the woods from
here! I pushed myself away from the railing. I wouldn’t even be in this tree house!!
My thoughts scolded me. I was so oblivious and selfish! I ran to the front railing and
leaned. My dad was dusting the wood scraps off the last step. After all this work, weeks
after weeks of hard labor, yet not for himself. For me and Sonia, and all of our friends!
I could already picture the joy the tree house will bring us. I could imagine
Georgia, my friend,  running around excitedly, exploring the tree house.
I could see Sonia, my sister, Georgia and I planning out our ideas for the tree house.
I stepped away from the railing. I took a deep breath and ran to the steps of the
finished tree house. I cautiously lowered myself down. I headed to my dad, who was
now admiring his hard work. He smiled as he noticed me.

“Do you like it?” He asked, a hint of nerve in his voice.

“Dad…..” I paused. “ Of course I do! Thank you so much! All of my friends
will love it too, especially Georgia. They may be a little jealous…..” I smirked.
I pulled my dad in for a hug.

My dad chuckled. “I’m glad you like it.” He replied.

I let him go, and then I tugged on his arm. “What are you waiting for? C’mon!
Let’s go up the tree house!”

My dad’s eyes gleamed with pride. “ I don’t know, is it a “ kid’s only” tree house?”
He asked one eyebrow raised. He smiled, but a different type of smile. His smile,
had a glint of humor in his eyes, and a smile that seemed to be more of a smirk, and
gave off the effect as if he was teasing me. I recognized this smile as the,” I just did a
really bad dad joke,” type of smile.

I shot a smug,” I finally get to overrule you in a decision,” look back at him. “
Parents are allowed!” I replied.

We then dashed up the beloved, finished tree house together.

Michael O.

           Picture of Benedict Arnold

     BENEDICT ARNOLD

A very important person from the revolutionary war was Benedict Arnold.
Benedict Arnold, even though he was a traitor won the war for the America.
He won the war for America because of all the battles he has won and how
many plans he had ruined for the British army.

Benedict Arnold was born in Norwich, Connecticut, on January 14, 1741.
In 1762, Benedict Arnold opened a drug and book store in New Haven, Connecticut,
five years later expanded to shipping, trading with Canada and the West Indies

In 1775 Benedict Arnold was elected militia captain and joined Ethan Allen
to take fort Ticonderoga from the British. After a good but unsuccessful attempt
to take Quebec from the British, Arnold was promoted to brigadier general.
In 1776 Arnold delayed a British drive south, thwarting   their plan to take New York.
Though his impatience and rashness made him unpopular and he was passed
over for promotion.

In Autumn he distinguished himself in the Saratoga campaign, and in 1778
Washington made him commander of Philadelphia. It was here that he married
Margaret Shippen, daughter of a loyalist family.

Picture of Sir Henry Clinton

To finance his lifestyle Arnold began a treasonous correspondence with
British commander, Sir Henry Clinton, offering to surrender West Point,
the crucial site on the Hudson River, for a sum of money plus a commission in
the British army. Benedict Arnold took the offer and betrayed America.         

                                                                        

              Conclusion

Benedict Arnold was a horrible traitor, everyone trusted him, then he just left
the Americans behind for a sum of money.

Marian B.

A strong smell of chlorine filled the air. The refreshing water of the indoor water park at Rocking Horse Ranch made the hot summer day cool. Me and other girls in Girl Scouts would go to the water park when we were not doing other activities we signed up for. A couple of different troops were at the resort, which made the place packed. The indoor water park had a pool with basketball hoops, and fake planks with netted rope above it so you could walk across while holding on to the rope. In the back of the park was where the water slide and playground was. The water slide was a tube that twisted and turned. On the playground there were two small slides that branched off.

 I leaned up against the big slide and felt the hard plastic touch my skin. Shots of water bounced of my back as I stood there waiting for my friend Emily. I thought about whether or not I wanted to go on the slide, would I like it, would I get sick, or would it be scary?

 I remembered the time were I was in a situation like this, I had been at a different indoor waterpark with a much bigger slide, for my brother’s birthday a few years before. Me and my best friend Eowyn both wanted to go on the slide but were scared to go on, Eowyn was going to go on, she even went up the very long staircase, but ended up not going on.

 I felt a splash of water hit me and pull me out of my daydream. I turned around to see Emily pulling herself out of the water.

“That was awesome” Emily shouted excitedly as she jumped out of the slide.

 Mary walked up to us before I could think of something to say.

“Have you guys been on yet?” Mary asked us,

Emily replied “I have”. Mary turned to face me,

I quietly said “ I am not sure if I am going on.”

After saying that I thought, if I do go on though how bad will it be?

“Then why don’t you just come up with us to make up your mind” Emily told me.

“Fine” I said as I crossed my arms.

Somehow, they both convinced me to get on the long, twisting stairs. People raced past us to get to their place in line. We stomped ourselves up the stairs. The longer it took for us to make it up, the shorter it took for me to get nervous. As the line got shorter and longer as more people disappeared down the water slide we climbed our way up. We finally made it to the top platform where the top of the slide was. There was a young lifeguard and all he did really was say “You can go”. Emily went first to show me that the water slide was not terrible. When I could no longer see Emily I stepped my warm, wet feet into the slide and sat down on the very edge of the slide where I could still see my surroundings of the ranch. Mary was behind me and she was a few feet away from me.

“You can go.” The lifeguard told me.

 I took a last deep breath of fresh of air before pushing the rest of my body down the slide. The tube was hot and dark. I turned and the tube surrounded me, I closed my eyes and crossed my hands over my chest not knowing it would make me go faster. The water pulled me through, I felt myself starting to turn again and again for what seemed like ages. I felt myself turning straight as a gush of water piled on top of me as I went under getting my hair and face wet. I opened my eyes realizing I was slowing down. I felt fresh air and the familiar smell of pool water hit my face. I pulled my body out from the water and saw the water park in front of me,

along with Emily smiling at me, “How was it?”
          “Not that bad, it was kind of fun even. I don't know why I was so worried.” I replied. Then I thought to myself that I did not have to be so scared about going on the waterslide after all. Once I finally made myself walk the stairs, and went on the slide I was not so scared and learned that I did not have to be. I turned towards the slide and remembered how I was looking at the slide in fear, when now, I was looking at it in a happy way.

Lindsay P.

 😬  The Salem Witch Trials  😬

 

                            Introduction:

Many people believed that the Salem Witch Trials should be happening. But now people are starting to wonder if this was the right choice. The Salem Witch Trials caused many innocent deaths. Mostly because the parents believed their children, and they wanted the people they accused of hurting them dead. But what happened to the people who were innocent? This book will answer that question and teach you more about the Salem Witch Trials, and how terrible they were. 

             Chapter 1: How it all started

One day a girl name Betty Parris starting acting strange. She hid under tables and started talking gibberish. Sometimes she couldn’t even speak at all! People called this having “Fits”. Betty acted like this for a long time. At first it was just her, but then her cousin Abigail Williams started acting the same way. The parents tried everything they could to help the girls. But they had  no idea what was going on. Imagine how worried they were! They tried to make a special cake, that was supposed to keep the witches away. Their slave Tituba made the cake. She gave it to the dog. Every time the dog crunched on the cake, the witch was supposed to feel it and go away. But that didn’t work. They then tried calling a doctor, but the doctor confirmed that they were not sick. This worried the parents very much, because if they were not sick, then it could only mean one thing. They were being tormented by witches! After they tried the cake remedy, the girls got worse. They claimed they couldn’t breathe. They said they saw things that only they could see. Like a witch poking them and biting them. Betty finally told her parents that the person tormenting them was the family's slave Tituba! Betty also named two more people. Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne. Abigail also said that Sarah Good was tormenting them! More and more girls started acting this way. This made people very frightened. Something had to be done! After that, more and more girls started accusing these women, and people finally decided to see if they were witches. They took the three women to a person who could tell if they were witches or not. If you had any sort of birthmark on you, then people would think you were a witch. The girl checked all three women for birthmarks, but they all had none. They still had to go to trial, even though they passed the test. A few days later they went to trial. The girls were at trial also, so the judges could see if the girls reacted to the all of the ladies presence. They judges asked the ladies why they had tormented the girls. They just assumed that they were guilty! That's not fair! First they asked Sarah Good. Bettys parents recalled her coming to beg for food with her daughter, and when they gave her daughter some food, Sarah Good still looked upset. They said she mumbled something that they thought was a curse. When they asked her why she was mumbling a curse, she said that she was just mumbling thanks for the bread they gave her daughter. She begged for them to believe her. After that they moved on to Sarah Osborne. When she came into the room, Abigail and Betty said that a black crow with Sarah Osbornes head on it came to visit them. A black crow was bad luck!

(Above) Section about witchcraft

        Chapter 2: Testing the women                     

After this trial, more and more girls started acting this way, and more and more people were accused. One day Anne said that Sarah Good’s daughter’s specter had choked her. When one man named John Procter was accused he said the girls were lying. He said that he never did anything to them, but still more and more people were accused! This was not fair! One person named Mary Walcott also was being accused. When she went to the trials, whenever she did something the girls all copied her. They said that her specter was making them. John Procter started to annoy many people, because he kept saying that the girls were all lying. People eventually found at that because Tituba lied and said she was a witch, she got better treatment. And everyone knows that the punishment for witchcraft is death. Tituba knew that very well. When more and more people realized this, they too started saying that they were helping the devil. They knew if they did this they would get special treatment like Tituba. They also accused other people of being witches, which would make their treatment even better. This just made everything worse because it made it seem like the girls accusations were correct. This was not good. If people started thinking the girls were right, then it could lead to many more innocent deaths! People begged family members that were accused to say they were guilty. Would you rather your mom tell the truth and die, or lie and live? You shouldn’t even have to choose! Tituba later wrote an apology letter, saying that she was sorry for using dark magic. Many people believed writing a letter like that would shoo the devil away. Researchers agree that this was a terrible time. Everyone was accusing other innocent people, making the situation worse and worse! Dorcas even accused her own mother! This was definitely getting out of hand!The judges believed the girls. Sarah Osborne desperately tried to defend herself, but when she did the girls shrieked and fell on the floor. Then, they moved on to Tituba. At first, Tituba said she was innocent. But then, she knew that they already thought she was guilty, and they would hang her. So then, she admitted that she actually was guilty. She said that the devil came to her, and made her sign a contract with her own blood, and offered her a lot of gifts so she would sign it. She said he also said that if she hadn’t signed it the devil said he would have killed her, and made the girls keep acting this way and would never make them feel better. So Tituba said that's why she signed it. Puritans believed that this was the way you become a witch. She also said that Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne also both signed the contract. She also said they tried to make her kill Ann. Ann agreed this had happened.

  

   (Above) Ann Hibbin’s death from the Salem Witch Trials

           Chapter 3: The end of the trials                    The jails started filling up more and more. Then, one day, Governor William Phips created a special trial for witchcraft accusations and called them the Salem Witch Trials. One women was accused of sitting on one girls back so she couldn’t breath. The jury always believed the girls even if it seemed like they were faking. Twenty innocent people including Sarah Good were eventually hung. But before Sarah Good died she said that if she was hung, then one of the judges would end up dying from bleeding in his throat. Legend has it that 25 years later, one of the judges died from bleeding in his throat. No one knows if this is what really happened. One guy recited the lord's prayer by heart before he died. One person had said that if someone could recite the lord's prayer by heart, you were innocent, but she then said that the devil must have helped him say that. After this, people started thinking that the girls accusations could be incorrect. One guy went to court and wouldn't say if he was innocent or guilty. The judges put rocks on his back to make him confess, or he would die, but he never said if he was innocent or guilty. After 2 days the stones crushed him. This death made everyone really start to think that the Salem Witch Trials were unfair. Many people started to think that the people being hung were actually innocent. After this, they finally stopped the Salem Witch Trials, and all of the people in jail, were freed. 5 years later a guy named John Hale wrote that 2 girls he met took an eggshell, and dropped it into a cup of water. They wanted to know who they were going to marry when they were older. Whatever the eggshell formed into, thats who you would marry. The eggshell formed into a coffin shape, which meant death. The man thought the girls were Betty and Abigail, but nobody knows who the girls really were. People started to think that the girls just ate poisoned Rye, which could make you see thinks that are not really there, but it could also kill you, and none of the girls died. Many people thought the girls were sick, or faking. Maybe the girls thought it was a game, or thought that there was no going back now that so many innocent people have died. About 200 people were accused of witchcraft. Sarah Goods daughter Dorcas was in jail for 8 months and became mentally ill. Everyone felt bad after the trials. Many people wrote forgiveness letters saying that they were sorry for participating in the trials. Ann's parents died when she was older, and she wrote an apology letter saying that she was sorry for accusing so many innocent people, and taking away so many innocent lives.

                                Conclusion:

The Salem Witch Trials were trials where many innocent people would go to court because of being accused of witchcraft. They were then sent to jail for a very long time, and a lot of them were hung. And the judges already assumed that all of the innocent people accused were guilty, because they believed the girls. People watched their family members die, and get sent to jail. This was a very sad time, and even when the girls that were accusing people got older, they apologized for accusing so many innocent people. But no one knows if the girls were telling the truth, or if they were just saying it to get attention, or something else. It remains a mystery.

THE END

Jenna S.

😮Salem Witch Trials😮

          Introduction The Salem Witch Trials was a time in history that will not be forgotten. People were accusing others. People died. People were suffering an unknown disease - or was it witchcraft. No one had any clue what to do. People an horrific time period- at least for the people that were accused. A few citizens of Salem began to come down with a strange illness- or at least they thought it was an illness. Then they started to accuse people. Then they started to look for the witches or any signs that they were witches. And then there was the punishments. Otherwise known as death. Keep on reading to learn even more about what happened during these awful times!

Salem The Salem witch trials took place in a town called Salem. Salem was the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It is in Massachusetts. Salem is currently called “Salem Town.” Salem is where the Salem Witch Trials took place. There are a ton of gravestones for Salem citizens that were killed because they were accused of being a witch. Salem was a very religious town. Many were Puritans and went to church. Puritans were members of the Church.

This is a person with the Illness ↑

Accusing  As you have read in the paragraph above, the Salem Witch Trials were pretty bad. But if you think what you just read is bad, just wait until you hear the information in this paragraph. People believed Betty and Abigail. They took the three women and checked to see if any of them had any strange birthmarks, warts, or moles. None of them had any if those. But the villagers of Salem needed more proof. The three women would be questioned again. Sarah Good went first. She was very poor, dressed in rags, and begged for food often. Betty’s father remembered a time when Sarah came to their house begging. They gave food to Sarah’s four-year-old daughter Dorcas, but Sarah walked away muttering. Betty’s father now believed that she might have been muttering a spell that caused all this! Then they asked her why she was hurting Betty and Abigail. They had already decided that Sarah Good was guilty. Though she kept on saying over and over again that she was not involved in witchcraft and that she had been mumbling a thank you to Betty’s father. Sarah Osborne went next. She was sick. Betty and Abigail said that Sarah had transformed into a bird and had Sarah’s head! Sarah immediately stood up to defend herself. Then the girls were screaming. Sarah had barely moved. Next it was Tituba’s turn. Tituba was brought in  then the girls started to shriek and scream and twitch in pain. They were on the hard floor thrashing wildly as if someone were choking them. Tituba confessed. She said that the devil had come to her and asked her to become a witch. She had to sign the devil’s book to become a witch. Then she also said that she had seen Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne’s names in the book. Sarah Good and Sarah Osborne were both sent to prison. But Tituba was not because she gave information. Then more girls started to accuse. Some thought that because so many girls had the illness, some of them were faking it because of all the attention that Betty and Abigail were getting. Maybe Betty and Abigail were actually faking. No one really knows though.

 

This is someone being accused ↑

Punishments & Looking for witches  In this paragraph I will tell you about how villagers from Salem accused people, and the punishments some got if they were found guilty. The first punishment you would get was being sent to prison. Prison was cold, crowded, sometimes infected by sickness, and there wasn’t a whole lot to eat. Then there was hanging. Hanging was a brutal way to die. Hanging was where someone would tie a rope around your neck then tie the rope to a tree. You would struggle, try to get out, but you couldn’t so you were choked until you stopped struggling. Until you died. But that was not the only way colonial villagers punished you. They also killed one man by putting a ton of rocks on top of him until he couldn’t hold the weight anymore so he was crushed under all of the rocks.  It took two days. Every time they put down a rock, they asked if he was guilty or not. He replied no every time, so they kept on placing stones on him, waiting until he said he was guilty. But he never confessed, so he died. Sometimes, death wasn’t the punishment. Sometimes people would put you on the end of a stick and dump you into the water. Over 200 people were killed by the end of this event. The most common way Salem residents accused people was the illness. It was the original way, and it got one person to admit. They would immediately be checked for any unusual birthmarks, moles, warts, etc. Moles or not, they would be questioned. If they turned out to be guilty, (or if everyone said they were, but they weren’t,) that person would be sent to prison, die there, or be hanged.

                       

˂ Ann Hibbins. She is about to be hanged.

Conclusion  In this report, you learned about the Salem Witch Trials. You learned about the illness, accusing, punishments and looking for witches, and Salem. The time of the Salem Witch Trials were dark times. So many people died or suffered terribly. But Massachusetts did not formally  apologize for this until many years had passed. I hope you liked this and you learned some useful information

THE END