On April 30th, 2009, some peer mediators from Hialeah Gardens High had a chance to go to Westland Hialeah High School to be trained to peer mediate. I got a chance to go to this workshop. Even though I had been a peer mediator the previous year this workshop refreshed my mind on what I learned. Also I learned some new techniques. Today in the workshop Ms. Tamika was the speaker and she talked with us about mediation, confidentiality, communication skills, resolutions, different type of conflicts, and finally the definition of conflict. We also participated in some activities such as writing what was our point of view on different conflicts teenagers face and writing some solutions for these conflicts. We also shared our point of view of the difference between court and mediation and we practiced paraphrasing. Finally, we got into a group of four, made up a conflict and two peer mediators practised mediating the problem. The day was very fun and interesting. This made me realize that I do want to make a difference in our school and that’s why I want to become a Peer Mediator of Hialeah Gardens High School. Last but not least, a special thank you to Coach Binder/Trust Counselor, Mr. Napoles, and Ms. Nadel.
P.S. Thank you Ms. Nadel for today =] Also, the significance of this picture was because as gladiators we do care for our school and that is why some of us decided to be Peer Mediators.
April 25th, 2009, was Global Youth Service Day. As a school we participated in Hands on Miami to help on this day. Global Youth Service Day is one of the biggest days where many people come out and serve their community. Hialeah Gardens High School got lucky to have one of the representatives of Hands on Miami, Alexandria Segovia [[my best friend]], at our school. So the day commenced with me waking up at 7:00 a.m. to be at school for 8 a.m. Then we headed to Amelia Earheart Park. From there we signed in and then we chose for our school to all help on the Mountain Bike trail. After we got separated into groups, and each group had a different job. Some people cleared the trails while others put mulch on the trails to make it better for the riders. In my group we had Felipe, who is in a wheel chair, Gilbert Soles, Maricelys Amaya, and me. We got to do a whole bike trail on our own. Although it was challenging helping Felipe maneuver up hills and around some corners but we got through it. I was inspired on how even though he was in a wheel chair, he still decided to come out and help with this hard and physical work. On the bike trail we moved all the obstacles that may affect the bike riders, like twigs hanging from a tree to bottles on the ground. It took us the full three hours to do the whole bike trail, but we finished it. Something that really surprised me was when we were picking up trash and a bike rider stopped and gave us thanks for what we were doing and this touched me. I didn’t think that somebody was going to stop from their time riding their bike to thank us. This was an awesome experience because I learned that team work is very effective on a job. Finally, I give thanks to Alexandria and Ms. Nadel for sponsoring the trip for our school and giving us an opportunity to make the world a better place.
Well in my 4th period we have a special speaker from the "Non-Violence Act" to speak to us, her name is Ms. Hersh.
One day Ms. Hersh showed us a video of violence. In class we separated into groups and made our own plays that had a similarity to the video.
In class i had a lot of fun trying to make this play. Every body was very cooperative, considerate, and respectful.
While my group presented, everyone payed attention and did not interrupt our play. Also, they kept there comments to themselves.
The wining group did really good. They also accepted our comment in a good way. They had some little mistakes but practice makes perfect. So my experience with Ms. Hersh was really good and i ad an awesome time.
Well thanks to Ms. Nadel i am in this club called FEA [Future Educators of America]. Ms. Concepcions our club leader recomended the book Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. This book is very interesting even though i am still in chapter three. Its is very shoking of what happens to a girl. This book is about a girl that is telling her story from heaven of how her neighbor raped and murdered her. It is very harsh book because of the details, but after all the book is just telling story.
This book is conveying a message to be careful with the people you trust because you never know who would stab you in the back. And like how Ms. Nadel says "Trust can take years to build up, but seconds to shatter".
So as a classmate, student, or friend i recomend for others to read this book and join the journey of this inocent victim.
As we all know the moment we've been all expecting is here. It is time for change. My resolution for 2009 is:
Finish water polo. This year i want to join the Water Polo team in my school and my resolution is to finish it. I say this because many things that i start, i don't finish it. First, i am going to join water polo and even if i think its to hard i am going to continue the sport so that i can finish it.
Loose weight. Well of course i gained weight over Winter break because of the holiday foods. I have a goal to weigh in so i am going to try my best. First, by joining water polo i am going to do a lot of exercise[which i loose weight]. But instead just doing that when i get home i am going to do an hour more of exercise and eat healthy.
Get an A in English. Well English i a very challenging class for me. I got in the first grading period a C by 1 point i could have gotten an A which really sucks. So i am going to force myself to get and A to make myself proud. First i am going to study a lot. Then, i am going to be on top of all the work making sure i do the best i can. Also, whenever i have a concern or something i would let the teacher know.
Balance my grades in school with sports. The first grading period i was in Swimming, which is a very interesting sport. But it was really hard to balance my grades with the sport. You really have to be committed to do this. But now that i have experience with swimming, Water Polo is going to be easy and i am going to know how to balance my grades to get good grades.
Get straight A's in a marking period. I have never gotten a C in my report card, so this year it really hit me when i saw that C. The rest of my classes i have A's so i am going to change that C into an A so that i can get straight A's. I am going to be on top of my grades and i am not going to let it slip.
Get Principle Honor Roll. I am a really great student and i really want to get Principle Honor Roll. First, i have to be on top of my grades. Then, make sure that i get all A's so that i can get the Principle Honor Roll.
The soundtrack for my 2008 would be the music on top. Vitamin C [Graduation], Avril Lavigne [When Your Gone], Pink [Family Portrait], and Carter Burwell [Bella's Lullaby].
The song Graduation by Vitamin C fits in my 2008 year because i finally left middle school and began my journey to the unknown. I went to M.A.Milam K-8 Center from kindergarten through eighth grade and i was finally ready to go to the next chapter in my life. The song quotes "But when we leave this year we won't be coming back, No more hanging out cause we're on a different track, And if you got something that you need to say, You better say it right now cause you don't have another day, Cause we're moving on and we can't slow down..." this also relates to me because i have been with the same friends since kindergarten and we were moving on to different schools so we wernt going to be together. This song gives me happy and sad feelings because i am finally moving on but leaving my friends behind.
The song When Your Gone by Avril Lavigne also fits in my 2008 year because my grandfather had past away 3 years ago but this year i felt even more lonely because his birthday was coming up and i had nobody there to comfort me. In the song Avril sang "When you're gone, The pieces of my heart are missing you, When you're gone, The face I came to know is missing too, When you're gone, The words I need to hear to always get me through the day and make it ok, I miss you...". This really touched me because i do miss him alot and i wish he was here with me especially now to get through this rough patch. He always comforted me and now i have nobody to do that for me and this song explains my exact feelings of missing him.
Also, the song Family Portrait by Pink really affected me. The song quotes "You fight about money, bout me and my brother ; And this I come home to, this is my shelter; It ain't easy growin up in World War III ; Never knowin what love could be, you'll see ; I don't want love to destroy me like it has done ; my famil..." This year there had alot of conflicts between my mother and step-father. Bu this year it went to the limit were my brother had to get involved physically to protect my mother. He threw out my brother and I. So now my brother and i live basically by ourselves with no mother in our sisters house. This year has been really rough because it is not easy seeing you loved one in a problem and leave them. I miss my mother alot but i have to adapt living inder my brothers custody. This relates to the song because i felt like i was growing up in World War3 when my mother and step-father would fight over me and my brother.
Finally, the last song that i can relate to is Bella's Lullaby. This is because it all is smooth and then it comes to reality. This song realtes because i am dreaming of how much i wish my life could be smooth but it come to reality when wakee up from this beautiful dream to my rough life which makes the beautiful song come to an end
It talks about these two groups that are in Florida High Schools that recycle and are having fun, tips to help you get started, and the little things you can do to conserve energy and resources.
How is this article helpful?
This article is helpful because it is telling the readers what other people have done to help our environment. This at the same time is inspiring us to go out there and help.
How can this article be helpful to me?
This article can be helpful to me because any where i am i can remember the purpose of this article and recycle.
My favorite book from my childhood is If You Give A Mouse A Cookie. This is my favorite childhood book because it is very interesting. This book is about how a boy meets this very needy mouse. Then the boy want to give the mouse a cookie not knowing that the mouse was going to ask for these many things one after another. When you read this book your going to have a smile on your face and going to want to have a cookie with a glass of milk. Another reason this is my favorite childhood book because its a picture book and it is very detailed. Its shows every thing that the mouse asks for, so basically your seeing everything thats happening in the book. So give you my word your going to like this book!! So go out and read it!!
