Week 38 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty okay. I didn't have too much homework. It wasn't too stressful. My birthday was Saturday, so that was pretty nice. And this was the last week before finals. Hopefully they all go well. Can't wait until summer break!

Week 37 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty good. I didn't have school Monday and Wednesday was the taste of Whitney Young, which was amazing, so I only had three real days of school this week. It was pretty project heavy, but I managed to get through it. And finals is the week after next, so I was stressing about that. But, otherwise, this week was pretty nice.

Week 36 at Whitney Young

This week took so long to finish. It was a pretty hard week, but it ended well with a noce field trip to the zoo. I got a nice amount of sleep everyday; which was amazing. I also had really hard swim practices this week. So, I was still pretty tired even after getting a nice amount of sleep the previous night. I just want to be on break so that I can sleep as long as I please.

Acceptance Speech for Spingarn Medal

    I’d like to thank president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Cornell William Brooks, and also members of the executive board for presenting me with the Spingarn Medal. The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the NAACP for outstanding achievement by an African American. The award, which consists of a gold medal, was created in 1914 by Joel Elias Spingarn, Chairman of the Board of the NAACP. I am honored to join the likes of William Edwards Burghardt Dubois (W. E. B. Dubois), George Washington Carver, Richard Wright, Martin Luther King Jr., Langston Hughes, Rosa Parks, Maya Angelou, etc. as a recipient of this amazing award. I am grateful that the people of your organization have noticed my success in pushing for a bill that makes the unlawful use of violence by police officers on any race punishable by imprisonment and stripping of their police badge. I am also grateful that the government of the United States has passed this bill and has accepted it as a law that applies to all states in this country.
    As a fourteen year old African American boy with access to internet resources such as Twitter and news outlets such as The New York Times, it’s very easy for me, and many of my peers, to see and become aware of the social injustices African Americans face in today’s society. Racism plays a big role in everything. Even the officers deemed best fit to protect the citizens of their country can be racist, unjust, and may or may not be positively affected by white privilege.
    From January 1st to December 24th of 2015, a total of nine hundred and sixty five people were fatally shot by the police. Although black men make up only six percent of the United States population, they account for forty percent of unarmed men shot to death by police. So, that means that the police killed roughly about one hundred and two unarmed black people in 2015 (about two each week). Only ten of those one hundred and two cases resulted in the police officer(s) being charged with a crime.
    Seeing my fellow African and African American brothers and sisters gunned down while unarmed and their killers being wrongfully prosecuted hurts me deeply inside. Even with video evidence and multiple witnesses, the policeman still find a way to avoid jail time for the crimes that they’ve committed. And I know that many citizens of this country can agree with me in thinking that that is very unfair.
    Now I know that a lot of this information may sound made up, but I can assure you that the passing of my bill, along with the many other statistics about police brutality, is not. Passing this bill didn’t just consist of me sending a letter to the White House demanding that it be changed into a law. The process was way more extensive and difficult. First, I had to gather a reasonable amount of support from my friends, family, and social media followers. I needed people to encourage me to do something amazing for the African American community because I knew that many people would strive to get me not to push for my bill to be passed. After many weeks of coming up with ideas and parts of my proposed bill, I sent all of the work that I had done to the Illinois Representative for the second district, Robin Kelly. She thought that my bill was a great idea and immediately sent it into the U.S. House of Representatives. I then waited weeks and weeks for news about the passing or denying of my bill. I began to doubt that I should’ve thought of such an idea in the first place. But, before the negative thoughts of doubt and regret filled my mind, I got a letter in the mail saying that my bill was being sent to the president to be either approved, denied, or left alone. My family members and I pranced all around my mother’s house. We sang, danced, and prayed that President Obama would accept my bill. A couple days later, my mother received a note from the White House saying that my bill has now become a law and will be enforced by the government in every single state.
With the passing of my bill, there will no longer be national outcries and protests because the jury made their decision based on the color of the skin of the murderer and victim. With the passing of my bill, America will start to realize how many real “thugs” there are being prosecuted. I am thankful for this award because it has helped me bring and spread awareness about police officers not being invincible anymore. I am thankful for this award because now every African American in this country can feel a little safer knowing that there is less of a chance that their brothers, fathers, sisters, and mothers will be gunned down on the streets that they live on.
    African Americans shouldn’t be in constant fear of death while carrying out average daily activities. We shouldn’t have to take off our hoods while taking a walk in our neighborhoods or buying things from the store. We shouldn’t be treated as animals and be given little to no human rights. We shouldn’t have to pray that that white policeman will get jail time if he/she is caught on tape murdering one of our family members. We should be treated as equally as anyone of any other color. We should be able to live in a society where the color of our skin plays no role in how our cases are being judged. We should all be equal. And I’m eternally grateful that the members of the NAACP are fully aware of that.

Sources: http://mappingpoliceviolence.org/unarmed/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/12/26/a-year-of-reckoning-police-fatally-shoot-nearly-1000/

Week 35 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty okay. I had an amazing field trip for mandarin class on Tuesday. We went to the field museum, a Chinese restaurant named Chopsticks, a donut shop named Dan's Donuts, Target, and took the train and bus almost everywhere we went. The rest of the week was pretty chill. I had lots of tests and quizzes, but I'm pretty sure that I did well on them. I also have my first swim meet for the 2016 long course season this weekend. AND SCHOOL IS OVER IN FOUR WEEKS!!!

Week 34 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty chill. I didn't have any problems at school or with swimming. My school work, homework, and physical activities didn't cause me any anxiety, so this week was definitely pretty good. Hopefully next week is as good, or better, than this one was.

Week 33 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty bad. I had so many quizzes amd tests to take. I also had a lot of homework, and didn't get very much sleep. Swim practice was also pretty hard. So, yeah. This week was not my week.

Week 32 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty hard and terrible. I was so tired and stressed out everyday. I had so many things racing through my mind every second. It was overwhelming. But, luckily, it's over now. This was my first week back from spring break. School wasn't too bad. But things outside of school were. I admit that I was pretty sluggish this week. I was tired and not used to my daily schedules. So, swim practice was pretty difficult along with the energy lost from the school day. So, this week wasn't the best week.

Regret Story Second Draft

Julian Green
Period 4
4/12/16
Regret Story - James Brown
    The alarm started beeping. It was five o’clock in the morning. James Brown, a freshman at Sojourner Truth High School had to get to school by 6:30 to get on the bus to Springfield for his US History field trip.
    “It’s too early!” James shouted. “I wish that I would’ve stayed at my old school! They never went on field trips at six o’clock in the morning,” He thought to himself.
    James had previously transferred from a school named Kithron Academy High School to his current school for a better education. But, he left all of his friends at his old school and felt left out and lonely at his current one. He felt as if he wanted to go back to his old school to be with his friends and have fun, but he knew that his education came first.
    It was now 5:15 and James still hadn’t gotten out of bed. So, his mother came storming upstairs to his room to wake him up.
    “Are you serious right now?” His mother shouted. “It’s fifteen minutes past when I told you to wake up! Get up and go downstairs now! You’re not the only one who has to get in that bathroom!”
    James jumped up and ran downstairs for fear of listening to anymore of his mother’s screaming. After leaving the bathroom, he headed back upstairs to get ready for his trip. He had packed his snack bag/bookbag the night before and made sure that he downloaded two or three new albums on Apple Music to listen to on the road. He then got his clothes on, picked his bummiest pair of shoes and headed back downstairs to eat breakfast.
His mother was waiting for him in the kitchen with a stern look on her face. “Did you know that we have to leave in less than twenty minutes. It’s 5:36 and you still haven’t eaten breakfast yet!”
James’ mother didn’t like the idea of waking up early to go to something that she wasn’t participating in. Especially if the person she was transporting was running a little behind schedule. So, he hurried up and ate his bowl of cereal, brushed his teeth and hair, grabbed his bag and a water bottle, and was out of the door by 5:55.
    He felt as if the car ride to school was a guilt trip. He didn’t feel as if this school was the place for him. He regretted almost every moment that he spent in school without his friends. He could recall hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times that he’d spent having fun in and out of class last year. He remembered dedicating weekends to movie nights with his friends and taking trips to the amusement park just outside of town because he was bored. Now, the only interactions he had with his friends were through direct messages on Twitter or Instagram to say hi every four to five days. He felt as if he’d left a part of him when he left his old school. He needed to start over at his new school. He needed to find a way to replicate his old friends at his new school. He had trouble finding new ways to interact with people. He regretted leaving his old school.
    It was now 6:25 and his mother was pulling up behind the yellow school bus in front of the school. Coincidentally, the song “Real Friends” by Kanye West was just ending. His mother, tired and wishing that she was in bed, turned around and said, “Have fun on your trip. Make sure you take lots of pictures.”
    “But what if my battery runs out? Or if I run out of storage on my phone?” James said to reflect his dismal attitude.
    “Find a way. You know that I have to document everything on Facebook. Bye!”
    James exited the car and walked over to the school bus. There were already a couple of people on the bus before he got on. He wanted to sit alone. He didn’t feel like speaking to anyone this early in the morning. So, he walked towards the middle of the bus where no one was currently sitting and plopped down into the cold, brown cushion. He then turned his music back on to try and zone everyone out for the three and a half hour ride to Springfield.
    He started off listening to one of the albums he downloaded a couple nights ago. The album was entitled TWENTY88. It featured the two artists Jhene Aiko and Big Sean. The album was only about thirty minutes long, so James paused the music, and started looking for other albums to listen to because the albums he downloaded were too short. While he was doing this, the bus started to pull away and begin its journey to Springfield.
    James finally found an another album to listen to thirty minutes into his bus ride. So, he unpaused TWENTY88  and tried to settle into his seat.
    James was drained. He only got about five hours of sleep last night because he stayed up late doing homework. So, while “Selfish”, the second song on the album, started playing, he fell asleep.
    Right as the eighth song on the album ended, James shot up out of his recumbent position. He had no idea where he was, and it was still fairly dark outside. James looked outside of the window to his left only to see snow hitting the sides of the bus and the tires running over grey patches of ice. He felt uncomfortable and really regretted coming on this trip. Fifteen seconds after James sat back into his seat, the bus jolted to the right. It then became very bumpy and James noticed that the bus wasn’t on the road anymore. The driver told everyone not to worry as he steered the bus back onto the icy road. James was frightened now. He had no interest in listening to any of his music. He wanted to stay awake just in case the bus decided to slide off of the road again.
    James was alert. He wanted to be prepared for any surprises that may or may not happen. His seatbelt was buckled and tightened and he sat in his seat with his hands folded, while at the same time, taking quick glances at the bus driver and his window. The bus driver seemed to be struggling with the wheel. The ride started to get really bumpy again. And before James knew what was happening, the bus started doing 360 degree flips before finally tumbling into a ditch on the side of the road.
James was barely conscious. He had hit his head on the window next to him and shattered all of the glass onto his face. There was blood everywhere. It was cold, and almost no one was moving. James could barely see a thing. His eyes started to cloud up and in less than a minute, he passed out.
James woke up to the loud sound of beeping. He felt as if the beeping was right in his ear. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to turn off the heart monitor  next to him because it was annoying him. The nurse immediately pushed his hand away and started howling at him. She shouted, “What do you think you’re doing? Do you know that if you unplug the heart monitor, I won’t know if you’re dying or not!”
“Duh. I watch Grey’s Anatomy. The beeping is just annoying me. Is there any way to turn it down?” James replied.
“No! You’re going to have to deal with it! You had a very bad brain bleed and could possibly die at any second.”
“I have a what? Wait why am I here?”
“You were in a bus crash. The paramedics found you inside of the bus with glass shattered all over your face and you were bleeding out of your ears when you got here. There was damage to the medial temporal lobe in your brain.”
“What is that? And why can’t I remember any of this.”
“I was just getting to that. That part of your brain controls memory. Damage to it may result in permanent memory loss. You might not remember anythi-”
“Wait! I do remember things! I remember Kithron Academy High School! Is that it? Is that the high school that I go to??”
“No. I’m afraid not. The bus driver from your school said that he was driving to Springfield from Sojourner Truth High School.”
At that point, James felt hopeless. He couldn’t remember anything from this morning, or even last week. So, the nurse called in James’ mother to help him out.
James and his mother talked for hours. She had to explain to him that he transferred from Kithron to a new school and was taking a bus to Springfield for a field trip. She told him about the vacations they took after he left Kithron and the names of all of the new friends he had made at school to try and squeeze memories out of his head. But it didn’t work.
James was distraught. He couldn’t believe anything that his mother or nurse told him. The only thing that he was thinking about was his time at Kithron. He remembered times that he’d spent having fun in and out of class last year. He remembered dedicating weekends to movie nights with his friends and taking trips to the amusement park just outside of town because he was bored. He remembered all of these things and regretted leaving them. He regretted ever leaving his friends just so he could get into a better college. He regretted signing up for the field trip to Springfield. He regretted getting on that bus at six o’clock in the morning. He regretted not telling the bus driver to stop and turn back if the roads got too slippery. He just wanted to go back and be with his friends. Because he regretted every second he spent at his new school without them.

Week 31 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty long and hard. I started swimming and we had two full days of school. But, at least we had Thursday off. Friday was pretty cool too. And spring break started Saturday, so I'll be out of school for a week!

Regret Story

Julian Green

Period 4

4/12/16

Regret Story - James Brown

    The alarm started beeping. It was five o’clock in the morning. James Brown, a freshman at *insert high school name here* had to get to school by 6:30 to get on the bus to Springfield for his US History field trip.

    “It’s too early!” James shouted. “I wish that I would’ve stayed at my old school! They never went on field trips at six o’clock in the morning,” He thought to himself.

    James had previously transferred from a school named Kithron Academy High School to his current school for a better education. But, he left all of his friends at his old school and felt left out and lonely at his current one. He felt as if he wanted to go back to his old school to be with his friends and have fun, but he knew that his education came first.

    It was now 5:15 and James still hadn’t gotten out of bed. So, his mother came storming upstairs to his room to wake him up.

    “Are you serious right now?” His mother shouted. “It’s fifteen minutes past when I told you to wake up! Get up and go downstairs now! You’re not the only one who has to get in that bathroom!”

    James jumped up and ran downstairs for fear of listening to anymore of his mother’s screaming. After leaving the bathroom, he headed back upstairs to get ready for his trip. He had packed his snack bag/bookbag the night before and made sure that he downloaded two or three new albums on Apple Music to listen to on the road. He then got his clothes on, picked his bummiest pair of shoes and headed back downstairs to eat breakfast.

His mother was waiting for him in the kitchen with a stern look on her face. “Did you know that we have to leave in less than twenty minutes. It’s 5:36 and you still haven’t eaten breakfast yet!”

James’ mother didn’t like the idea of waking up early to go to something that she wasn’t participating in. Especially if the person she was transporting was running a little behind schedule. So, he hurried up and ate his bowl of cereal, brushed his teeth and hair, grabbed his bag and a water bottle, and was out of the door by 5:55.

    He felt as if the car ride to school was a guilt trip. He didn’t feel as if this school was the place for him. He regretted almost event moment that he spent in school without his friends. He could recall hundreds, maybe even thousands, of times that he’d spent having fun in and out of class last year. He remembered dedicating weekends to movie nights with his friends and taking trips to the amusement park just outside of town because he was bored. Now, the only interactions he had with his friends were through direct messages on Twitter or Instagram to say hi every four to five days. He felt as if he’d left a part of him when he left his old school. He needed to start over at his new school. He needed to find a way to replicate his old friends at his new school. He had trouble finding new ways to interact with people. He regretted leaving his old school.

    It was now 6:25 and his mother was pulling up behind the yellow school bus in front of the school. Coincidentally, the song “Real Friends” by Kanye West was just ending. His mother, tired and wishing that she was in bed, turned around and said, “Have fun on your trip. Make sure you take lots of pictures.”

    “But what if my battery runs out? Or if I run out of storage on my phone?” James said to reflect his dismal attitude.

    “Find a way. You know that I have to document everything on Facebook. Bye!”

    James exited the car and walked over to the school bus. There were already a couple of people on the bus before he got on. He wanted to sit alone. He didn’t feel like speaking to anyone this early in the morning. So, he walked towards the middle of the bus where no one was currently sitting and plopped down into the cold, brown cushion. He then turned his music back on to try and zone everyone out for the three and a half hour ride to Springfield.

    He started off listening to one of the albums he downloaded a couple nights ago. The album was entitled TWENTY88. It featured the two artists Jhene Aiko and Big Sean. The album was only about thirty minutes long, so James paused the music, and started looking for other albums to listen to because the albums he downloaded were too short. While he was doing this, the bus started to pull away and begin its journey to Springfield.

    James finally found an another album to listen to thirty minutes into his bus ride. So, he unpaused TWENTY88  and tried to settle into his seat.

    James was drained. He only got about five hours of sleep last night because he stayed up late doing homework. So, while “Selfish”, the second song on the album, started playing, he fell asleep.

    Right as the eighth song on the album ended, James shot up out of his recumbent position. He had no idea where he was, and it was still fairly dark outside. James looked outside of the window to his left only to see snow hitting the sides of the bus and the tires running over grey patches of ice. He felt uncomfortable and really regretted coming on this trip. Fifteen seconds after James sat back into his seat, the bus jolted to the right. It then became very bumpy and James noticed that the bus wasn’t on the road anymore. The driver told everyone not to worry as he steered the bus back onto the icy road. James was frightened now. He had no interest in listening to any of his music. He wanted to stay awake just in case the bus decided to slide off of the road again.

    James was alert. He wanted to be prepared for any surprises that may or may not happen. His seatbelt was buckled and tightened and he sat in his seat with his hands folded, while at the same time, taking quick glances at the bus driver and his window. The bus driver seemed to be struggling with the wheel. The ride started to get really bumpy again. And before James knew what was happening, the bus started doing 360 degree flips before finally tumbling into a ditch on the side of the road.

James was barely conscious. He had hit his head on the window next to him and shattered all of the glass onto his face. There was blood everywhere. It was cold, and almost no one was moving. James could barely see a thing. His eyes started to cloud up and in less than a minute, he passed out.

James woke up to the loud sound of beeping. He felt as if the beeping was right in his ear. He slowly opened his eyes and tried to turn off the heart monitor  next to him because it was annoying him. The nurse immediately pushed his hand away and started howling at him. She shouted, “What do you think you’re doing? Do you know that if you unplug the heart monitor, I won’t know if you’re dying or not!”

“Duh. I watch Grey’s Anatomy. The beeping is just annoying me. Is there any way to turn it down?” James replied.

“No! You’re going to have to deal with it! You had a very bad brain bleed and could possibly die at any second.”

“I have a what? Wait why am I here?”

“You were in a bus crash. The paramedics found you inside of the bus with glass shattered all over your face and you were bleeding out of your ears when you got here. There was damage to the medial temporal lobe in your brain.”

“What is that? And why can’t I remember any of this.”

“I was just getting to that. That part of your brain controls memory. Damage to it may result in permanent memory loss. You might not remember anythi-”

“Wait! I do remember things! I remember Kithron Academy High School! Is that it? Is that the high school that I go to??”

“No. I’m afraid not. The bus driver from your school said that he was driving to Springfield from *insert name of school here*.”

At that point, James felt hopeless. He couldn’t remember anything from this morning, or even last week. So, the nurse called in James’ mother to help him out.

James and his mother talked for hours. She had to explain to him that he transferred from Kithron to a new school and was taking a bus to Springfield for a field trip. She told him about the vacations they took after he left Kithron and the names of all of the new friends he had made at school to try and squeeze memories out of his head. But it didn’t work.

James was distraught. He couldn’t believe anything that his mother or nurse told him. The only thing that he was thinking about was his time at Kithron. He remembered times that he’d spent having fun in and out of class last year. He remembered dedicating weekends to movie nights with his friends and taking trips to the amusement park just outside of town because he was bored. He remembered all of these things and regretted leaving them. He regretted ever leaving his friends just so he could get into a better college. He regretted signing up for the field trip to Springfield. He regretted getting on that bus at six o’clock in the morning. He regretted not telling the bus driver to stop and turn back if the roads got too slippery. He just wanted to go back and be with his friends. Because he regretted every second he spent at his new school without them.

Week 30 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty okay. I got to sleep in almost everyday of the week with the exception of Thursday. There wasn't very much homework given to me except on Thursday when I had a full day of school. Good thing parcc testing is still going on because I like days where I get enough sleep and have time to study, do less homework, and do things that I like. The third quarter also ended this week, and I had straight A's for the third time in a row.

Week 29 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty nice. I only had about 1-2 big tests to take and not very much homework was assigned. I got a decent amount of sleep every night and wasn't too overwhelmed either. It's nice not having swim practice because I have more free time and time to spend with my friends. I also didn't have school Friday, so I got to sleep in. I also get late arrivals to school because of the parcc (?) testing going on.

Week 28 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty nice. I wasn't too stressed with homework or tests or anything. But, I was really tired. I would be sleepy in class, and I would fall asleep right when I got home. Maybe I have post traumatic swimming disorder. I kind of miss it, but I love having more free time. We also had a four day week this week and next week. But, it's a bad thing because CPS is affecting the learning of its students. Hopefully it gets better.

Week 27 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty nice. Since swimming is over, I have a lot of free time. I have more time to sleep, more time to spend time with friends, and more time to spend time with myself. It's great. This week wasn't too bad with tests. Thursday and Friday were filled with tests. But, there wasn't too much homework or studying to do. Overall, this week was pretty nice.

Week 26 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty nice. I only had to go to school Monday through Thursday; so it was pretty nice. I wasn't too stressed out this week. But, I had some hefty homework on some days of the week. But, luckily, I didn't have very many tests this week either. This week was also pretty exciting because Friday through Sunday, I'm competing at the Illinois Swimming Age Group State Championship. I'm swimming three events Friday, and two Saturday and Sunday. And then, Monday, I'm done with swimming for this season!

Dialogue / Short Story - Frozen

Julian Green

Period 4

3/10/16

Dialogue / Short Story - Frozen

    It was Saturday night; cloudy and freezing for late May in Dell. All of the trees stood in place, shocked by the cold. Hope Collins, a sophomore at Soft Technical High School, stood amongst the trees. Her eyes were bloodshot and her fingers and clothes were blood covered. She was frozen.

    It all started during fifth period. Hope was a straight-A student at Soft Tech. She was taking mostly college courses and ranked in the top five in her class. She was currently in AP Chemistry talking to Vanessa Stone, a friend of ten years.

“So you’re still coming over right?” Vanessa whispered.

    “Yeah, I think so. I can’t wait to try it tonight,” Hope replied in a more quiet tone than Vanessa.

    “Good. I can’t wait.”

    Vanessa turned her head back to the board. She had a large smirk on her face. She couldn’t wait for the evening.

    The bell rang for eighth period. Hope and Vanessa planned to meet across the street at a restaurant named Fella’s to get a snack before their fun night.

“You have money, right?” Hope asked.

    “Dang it. I left it on my dresser at home. I was a little too excited to pack the stuff, that I forgot about my money,” Vanessa replied angrily.

    “Don’t worry. I got you,” Hope said with a close-eyed smirk on her face.

    Hope and Vanessa ate until about four thirty. They didn’t want to have fun on an empty stomach. And after fully stuffing themselves, they headed home. Vanessa’s car was parked out front, and her house was only five minutes away, so they got there in no time.

    As soon as they got to Vanessa’s house, they ran inside, closed all of the blinds, ran up to Vanessa’s room, and shut the door. Vanessa then turned on the new untitled unmastered album by Kendrick Lamar to cool the mood. Her parents were on a business trip for work, so the girls didn’t have to worry about any interruptions.

    Hope pulled a black bag out of her backpack. She was eager and ready to get started.

She opened the bag and said, “Here it is. Don’t they smell good?” Hope held up two bags full of the newest drug, CTX.

“Just like cotton candy! And look what I bought to make this night even more fun,” Vanessa said as she pulled out two bottles of Coric.

This was the first time that Hope and Vanessa had ever taken drugs and drank alcohol at the same time. After taking three pills each, they were starting to get into it and feel the high. They were dancing around Vanessa’s room while listening to untitled 07 from the album they had been listening to before. After moving and dancing to every single beat of the song, the made their small party even more fun by taking three shots of the Coric each. They were both absolutely out of it.

Vanessa was feeling as light as a pillow and as nimble as a gymnast. Hope was experiencing every second in slow motion and even moved like a sloth. Vanessa was so energetic and she wanted to do so many things while feelings this rush of energy. She came up with an idea.

Vanessa ran up to Hope and shouted, “Do you think that I could tightrope walk my banister without falling?!”

Hope answered, “Omg totally. You could probably do backflips and everything.”

So, the girls ran out into the hallway and Hope watched Vanessa climb onto the banister.

“Alright! Here I go!” Hope screamed at the top of her lungs. She tried walking on the banister with her pink Rihanna stance socks, but two steps into it, she slipped and fell off of the banister onto the ground. She did about three backflips in the air before falling from about thirty feet onto the ground head first.

Hope watched the entire thing, and said, “Cool.” She then walked back into Vanessa’s room. Her body started tearing itself down, and she passed out on her bed for ten hours.

Hope woke up screaming from her deep, drug induced sleep. She had a giant headache, so she went to go get some water. She reached the top step and froze. She saw Vanessa’s body lying on the ground. She wasn’t breathing and she was covered in blood with one of her arms and legs bent backwards.

Hope immediately started to scream, “AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH! What did we do? Why did I let her convince me to do this. I can’t get caught for this. I’d be sent to jail. Wait! I know what to do!”

Hope ran over to Vanessa’s body. She covered her mouth and closed her eyes while she pulled her into the basement. Hope placed her gently in the closet that seemed like no one had used it for fifty years. Hope had been hysterically crying while she tried to cover up the death of her friend. She ran to the kitchen, tried to clean up any blood that she had tracked throughout the house, and tossed the towel into the closet with Vanessa. She was terrified of what would happen next, so she grabbed Vanessa’s keys and ran to her car.

Hope drove to the farthest edges of the town. She was still crying. But no tears were coming out. She felt terrible and wanted to just end it all right now. So, she stopped in the forest preserve right in front of the town border. She took the black bag and ran as far away from the road that she could. She took eight more pills and stood waiting to die amongst the trees. She was frozen.

Week 25 at Whitney Young

This week sucked a lot. I was swarmed with homework and difficult swim practices. I had barely six and a half hours of sleep everyday. I spent all day stressed and having the want to sleep. It was terrible. Hopefully next week will be less stressul and more calm. Because my life hurts.

Samia Black and Asia Brown Dialogue

Julian Green

Period 4

3/3/16

Dialogue

    Socially “woke” (up to date/current) African American high school classmates, Samia Black and Asia Brown discuss current issues in society that directly affect African Americans in their ethnic studies class.

    “Why are African Americans treated so poorly in American society?” Samia asked with a hope for an answer.

    Asia raised her hand and reached for the ceiling until Samia called on her. She answered, “That’s a great question. Maybe the white supremacists or racist ‘protectors’ of the citizens of our country could answer as to why the color of our skin is a few shades darker than theirs.”

“Ugh, that would be great. And since I’m taking AP Biology this year, I’m sure that they’d loved to understand the science behind how skin color works,” Samia sarcastically replied.

“Oh! I have another question,” Asia eagerly shouted.

“Well, what is it?” Samia said intrigued by Asia's want to ask more.

“Why is it that people of the film industry seem to hate having black actors/actresses play suitable roles in movies? Like Zoe Saldana in that new Nina Simone biopic….”

“Oh! And why do so many movies with a black female/male lead role portray some type of stereotype and/or racially motivated topic? Why can’t there just be regular movies with black people as the star? Why couldn’t Katniss from the Hunger Games be black? Why couldn’t Idris Elba be James Bond? Why have only 44 black people won an oscar?” Samia added on.

“They don’t want to see us succeed,” Asia replied in her DJ Khaled voice. “The key to success is having more black directors/producers who have the same ideas as us and want to voice their opinions in the form of a bestselling movie.”

“Like Shonda Rhimes? She’s been killing it with How To Get Away With Murder.”

“OMG, right? Maybe if we had more people like her to write and more actresses like Viola Davis, then we wouldn’t have this problem.”

“Well, at least it’s still Black History Month,” Samia said to bring light to the terrible things that black people have experienced in the past few months.

“Yeah, and at least I still have a few more days to educate these fools in my Twitter mentions on the history of blackface and why being a feminist and black lives matter activist is important, while at the same time, living my carefree, shea butter filled life.”

Class claps.

“You got that right,” Samia replied while clapping with her class.

“And at least the black community stands side by side in situations like this. It would really suck if we had no support in a time where the unlawful killing of us isn't deserving the rightful justice that it needs.”

James and Jake Blue Dialogue

Julian Green

Period 4

Dialogue

Characters: Jake Blue and James Blue

It was Sunday morning. Jake and James Blue are brothers. They were heading to James’s selective enrollment test for seventh grade. James was nervous and he didn’t really feel as if he’d been prepared enough for the test. Jake had already taken the test three years ago and felt as if it was easy.

“How hard was the test when you took it? How many questions were there? How long did it take you to finish?” James asked frantically.

“I don’t know. I can’t remember exactly what was on the test I took three years ago,” Jake replied with an annoyed look on his face.

“But how will I know if I’ll do well if you can’t remember how hard your test was?!” James shouted with rage and an immense feeling of nervousness.

“Look. If you’ve been doing those ISAT and NWEA test prep exercises, then you’ll be fine. I didn’t even take a class to prepare for the high school entrance test, and I got over 870/900 points,” Jake said trying not to brag, but to be helpful.

“Well, that’s because you’re smart,” James said back aggressively.

“Oh my gosh, thanks. But, enough about me. Just focus on the questions. Don’t rush through them. Read the directions CAREFULLY. And consider every answer choice before you mark one. Because they will put in very similar answers with subtle differences. Don’t think that you’re too smart for the test because they design it so that you make mistakes on questions that you think you’d know how to do correctly,” Jake warned his younger brother.

“Okay. So all I have to do is take my time, read directions carefully, consider every option, and not cheat off of others around me, right?”

“Oh! That too! They will know if you’re cheating. They know everything. So, please don’t risk failing your selective enrollment test just because your eyes wandered a little far off of your paper. I’ll be disappointed in you. And you’ll also have to stay at the school that you dread going to.”

“Okay, I’ll keep my eyes on the task at hand.”

“And give me your phone. If they hear it even vibrate, they’ll take your test away from you.”

“Ugh. If you say so,” James replied.

“Oh and one more thing,” Jake said.

“What?”

“Relax. And you’ll do just fine.”

Week 23 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty stressful and difficult. I got less than seven hours of sleep everyday of the week. And I had about three hours of homework everyday. I really can't wait until spring break, and when my swim season is finally over. School is stressing me out and swimming is stressing me out and I just want to get one or both of them over with. Hopefully next week is better than this one was.

Transcendentalism Final Project

Link to Google Slides Presentation on Transcendentalism: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16vK25JEgB1uX8dmibcjf_udfEkEY7QjbhxtnTMag7sA/edit?usp=sharing

Week 22 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty stressful. I barely got any sleep and I had so much homework to do. I also had very many tests/quizzes to study for. And, to and on top of that, I have my last high school swim meet for freshman year tomorrow. I've been preparing since last week, and it's been stressing me out lately. I just can't wait to get through February and some of March, because then I'll be done with swimming, and I'll have some time to relax. Swimming and school are not fun when they're put together. I just need to get through this month and I'll be getting more sleep and time to do my work (work=watch Netflix).

Week 21 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty nice, but also pretty tiring. I didn't have much homework, but I didn't get very much sleep either. Swim practices weren't too bad and I only had two or three tests this week. I got my report card back and I was pretty proud. I have a 4.7 weighted GPA and a 4.0 un-weighted. I don't know what my class rank is, but I'm assuming it be pretty high. That's about it for this week.

Week 20 at Whitney Young

This week was one of the most stressful and nerve wrecking weeks of my life at Whitney Young. I had finals in all of my classes. I studied literally everything that I learned for the whole school year. I'm really hopeful about the grades that I finished the first semester off with. I'm pretty sure that none of my finals really affected my grades because I either got the same grade on my final that my average in the class was, or my grade was high enough for it to not be affected by the final. Hopefully the second semester will be the same.

The Crucible Tweets

THE CRUCIBLE
TWEETS
By: Julian, Mackenzie, Corina, and Clayton of Period 4

Act 1 (Clayton)
John P- We out here in #Salem, #Massachusetts #16k-92!!!!#welcomtomyhood

Parris- When you get home from preaching to the people and find out yo daughter's bewitched.. #OHNO #thisshouldbeinteresting

Parris- Why can’t I have normal girls in my family?! Now I have to yell at my niece because she was dancing with @Tituba last night!

Abigail- When your uncle thinks you aren’t a good influence… #stfu @Parris She (Betty) just passed out #itwasntme

Mr. Putnam- THIS IS WITCHCRAFT @Parris!! OUR RUTH IS SICK TOO!! #OHHELLNO #SOS

Rev. Hale- It looks like Betty and Ruth are in the hands of the devil. This…. is witchcraft #dead #omg #iwokeupinabewitchedvillage

Act 2 (Julian)

Elizabeth P- @JohnP Where have you been? With Abigail I bet. Why don’t you just marry her? #cheater #thatswhyshegotfired #thatswhymaryisatcourtnow

John P- @ElizabethP Mary is where??? You know almost 20 people are in jail now! Don’t play… #chill *100 emoji*

Mary W- Hey. I’m back now. There’s like a million people in jail now. @ElizabethhP watch your back, there’s some snitches out there. *closed mouth emoji*

Rev. Hale- @JohnP You know your commandments? Because I heard some stuff in town about you…. *questioning emoji*

Giles C- @JohnP They took my wife! And Rebecca’s in jail too. They might hang them. *weary face emoji* @RevHale I never said she was a witch! Somebody’s lying!

Cheever- Hello. It’s me. I’ve come to arrest @ElizabethP, for she has been summoned… Abigail has accused her of witcheryy!  So, can you please come with mee!

Act 3 (Mackenzie)

John P: @Abigail She is lying! #whyyoualwaysliying my wife is innocent! #speakthetruth she is not a witch, Abigail is a witch for accusing my wife!

John P: @parris I am a christian man! I could never be a witch! #praisegod Why are you keeping count on how many time I go to church? #salkeralert

Elizabeth P: @DanForth I thought my husband liked Abigail! That's why I fired her! She tried to steal my husband from me! He is turning away from me! #sheisonlyakid

John P: @Elizabeth P @DanForth  What have you done Elizabeth, I have confessed! she only said that to save us, she is a very good women #weshouldhaveplanedthisbetter

Abigail: @Mary W you betrayed us so we are going to ruin you! We are going to pretend to be possessed so you can can die too! #thereisabirdontheceiling

John P: @DanForth They are all liars! They are pretending to be possessed! Why can’t you see that?! #wakeup This needs to stop soon #toomuchdeathinsalem


Act 4 (Corina)

Herrick- @Tituba @SarahG Hurry up and get out of that cell! I’m trying to get you all out of here!

Danforth- @Herrick What is all that noise for? And why is Hale here? And are you drunk? What’s going on?

Herrick- @Danforth The cows are so noisy man.. No masters to take care of them. People fighting and everything. #sad #maybeweshouldletsomepeopleoutofjail

Parris- Omg.. Abigail is gone. And Mercy too! #wheretheyatthough And she took all my money!!! #accusingfingersturntostealingfingers #igotbodiedbyastealingwoman

Rev. Hale- That’s great @Parris … *unamused face emoji* Now you have to get John and Rebecca to confess. This is all your fault. @ElizabethP Please help him!

Elizabeth P- He does what he wants when he’s poppin! *face with stuck out tongue emoji* Let him decide @RevHale

John P- Ha! You all thought that I would lie to stay alive! #imdead #literally

Week 18 at Whiney Young (1/24/16 missed blog)

This week was pretty okay. I had so much to study for in Geometry, but overall I didn't really have much to study or prepare for after that. I also have to study for finals soon because they start in a couple of weeks. They shouldn't be too hard as long as I prepare.

Week 19 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty okay. It was kind of stressful because I have lots of things to get done before the semester ends. For example, I have to get my application finished for a collegiate scholars program that I'm doing at the University of Chicago and I also have to find a way to get 20 service hours by the end of next week, or 50 service hours by this time next year. Finals are also next week, so I have to worry about studying for those as well. Homework was pretty low this week, but I still didn't get very much sleep. Oh well, next week, I'll be getting home at 4 to study for finals. I'll also have no morning practice, so I'll be able to get lots of sleep.

Week 17 at Whitney Young

This week was pretty hard. I barely got any sleep and I had so many tests to study for. On some days, it got a little overwhelming. And swimming during the week made that even harder. Luckily and also to my disadvantage, the semester is almost over. Finals are the most stressful time of the year though. So, I guess I'll have to try and live through it.

Week 16 at Whitney Young

This week was really stressful. It was the first week back from break and most people weren't prepared for school. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday were the hardest amongst all of the days of the week because I had to get to school at 5:45 for morning swim practice. I also had lots of homework this week and I barely got over 6 and a half hours of sleep (I usually get 7-8). But, I got my progress report back on Friday, and I'm not failing any of my classes. So that was good I guess.

Red Scare Paper

1/6/16

Red Scare

    The Red Scare refers to the fear of communism that spread throughout American politics, culture, and society. The Red Scare also led to a range of actions that had an extreme and long-term effect on the U.S. government and society. Many Americans feared that the Soviet Union was planning to forcibly spread communism around the globe. This occurred during the opening phases of the Cold War with the Soviet Union from the late 1940s through the 1950s. These fears were intensified by the Soviet Union successfully testing a nuclear bomb on August 29, 1949 and also the establishment of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949. The Red Scare started in 1947 and ended in 1954.

    For many Americans, the most prominent symbol of the Red Scare was Republican Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. Joseph Mccarthy spent almost five trying to expose communists in the U.S. government. His time spent trying to expose and accuse people of being communists led to the creation of “Mccarthyism.” Mccarthyism is defined as the practice of making accusations of subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence.  In the alert and suspicious atmosphere of the Cold War, suggestions of disloyalty were enough to convince many people in the U.S. that their government was full of traitors and spies. Joseph Mccarthy’s accusations were so aggressive and terrifying that few people dared to speak out against him. In most of his hearings, he interrogated many people, and was believed to shamelessly violate their civil rights. Despite any lack of proof, more than 2000 people lost their jobs because of Mccarthy’s accusations.  

    The Red Scare began to come to an end in 1954 when Joseph Mccarthy started trying to expose people of the military. He began to slowly lose supporters when the level of discomfort with Mccarthyism began to rise. Joseph Mccarthy began to become very vulnerable and people in the U.S. started trusting him less. After his slight downfall in supporters, the Army weakened his persuasive and trustworthy qualities even more by broadcasting the hearings on national television. The hearings were described by many observers as a shameful moment in American politics. Also, Joseph Mccarthy’s colleagues started to criticize his tactics. The Red Scare ultimately ended in when Joseph Mccarthy lost most of his followers. He died three years later in 1957.

Sources

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/red-scare

http://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/joseph-mccarthy

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism