Book #1, POW

When I picked up ''Freewill" By:Chris Lynch, I was expecting to read a less-hefty lengthed mystery book about a girl who was murdered. I read pages 1-8 and wasn't instantly hooked because the grammar and the style writing the author uses is very unique and somewhat confusing because it is told in second person.  During chapter 1 the setting is mostly at the main characters house where he lives with his grandparents because his parents are deceased... the setting also contains the school he attends where he takes a therapeutic woodshop class.  Around Chapter 2 is where things really started to heat up for me and I entered that "not putting the book down" mode. In Chapter 2, the main character, Will,   finds out a girl he knew from a different school is suddenly found dead, cause of death? She drowned in a pond. Will's grandparents offer him a day off to mourne and invite him to bowl in the greenway. He declines and heads to school where he is flattered with compliments from his woodshop teacher about his fine work with sculpting. Deputies clutter the news about the girls death and Will wonders if it's suicide or not....

Letter to Dr.Berry

Dear Dr. Berry,

Why blame us for mother-nature’s doing?  I’m writing you concerning your consideration of adding the two snow days at the end of the year, also to voice my opinion opposing that motion.  Don’t add on the snow days because ultimately, it’s a win-win for us all.

 We should not have the two extra days and here is why; you may or may not recall the winter of 2008/2009 when we had absolutely zero snow days… so this year we simply made up for those we didn’t receive! Also, some of us students and/or faculty, including myself, may have previously planned vacations, or other plans, that the added snow days at the end of the year will interfere with.  Another reason the days shouldn’t be added is because that is more electricity, water, etc.,  bills that could be easily avoided, and when added to the utilities not used in the snow days could sum up to a pretty substantial savings for the district. A little extra money in the district never hurt, it only helps, right?

There may be some who have the belief that because we missed extra days of school, that all of the curriculum will be dramatically affected.  The truth of the matter is, it won’t. Towards the end of the year we take finals over what we have learned, and all we would have to do to be able to fit all of the curriculum in our daily school schedule would be to adjust the dates of finals by a day or two, simple as that. 

All in all, it is ultimately your decision, but choosing to add them could very well result in upset students, faculty, and families which could be easily prevented by not adding them. Plus, I know I wouldn’t want to be the name behind the blame for this possible occurance. 

ONW STUDENT

POW#2 Snapshot By:Taylor Hale

                                                                 June 9th, 2009


The helicopter was taking off, and the roar of the engine combined with the slashing from the propellers made me more nervous and excited than I've ever been. This picture was taken from the inside of a helicopter. It is significant to me because it marks the very first time I ever took flight. Not only is it a pretty radical view, but while I was up in the air I had plenty of time to day dream and simply look at the beauty of our world. Even though everything looked so small, you could look beyond the horizon and realize just how big our world really is. Being in the helicopter that day made me feel like I was floating on a cloud and gave me a sense of power, only because I seemed so visible, while below me, everyone seemed so obscure. Now I really enjoy traveling by air and just being up so high in the sky. Aside from touring the area in the sky I was able to personally fly the helicopter which made for a pretty great day.

AOW#? Med. Student by: Taylor Hale

Throughout the media a local story is sweeping newspapers and Tv broadcasts. A JCCC nursing student is kicked out of the school due to a picture posted on Facebook. The student posed with a human placenta prior to asking JCCC Nursing Administrator for permission in which the teacher did not say "No" but merely replied saying "oh, you girls." The student was contacted later by the administrator being asked to remove it from Facebook, where it was posted for a short three hours and removed immediately. The student was then told she would not be in trouble.

In this situation I oppose the students removal from the nursing school on these points; first of all, she was never denied permission, secondly, was told she would not recieve punishment for the posting, thirdly, there are no school codes or conducts prohibiting such behavior or actions. And lastly, the student did not post the picture (which was un-identifiable) in a negative way. She put the picture on Facebook only to share with family and friends the great experience she encountered.

JCCC may have a few logical arguements about the students actions as well. Those may include that what she is a part of and what she posted represents JCCC and some may view that negatively while others may not. The dean of the school feels what she did and the price she had to pay were that of a "lesson hard learned" and is not keen on the idea of the student being re-admitted into the school.

Punishing someone that greatly for a lapse in judgement does not suit well with me, everybody makes mistakes and learns from them, and we all assume she will have learned from this one. Second chances run along the lines of hope and I believe this student deserves a second chance.

POW#1 SUPPPP? My name is by Taylor

Hello, my name is Taylor Jean Hale. My father named me Taylor because of his obsession with acoustical guitars, (Taylor is a brand of guitar). As embarrassing as that is, I do like my name despite the fact that I share a name with Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift. The name Taylor is originated in Middle English and Old English meaning "to cut". Yes, I do have nicknames like "tay tay" for example, along with that comes "Tj, Tay, etc."Anyways, that is the gist of things and the complete low-down on my name Taylor.