Ethos - Bullis School

Ethos
Bullis School
ETHOS
Middle School
Literary Magazine
2009-2010

Cover art by
Morgan Foery

Ethos
Ethos
Ethos ETHOS:
the characteristic spirit of
a people or of a community
1

Bullis School
2009-2010
2

Table Of Contents
Artwork by Lamonte Armstrong ............................................................7
Perfection by Jack Chellman .................................................................7
Artwork by Joe Stucky ...........................................................................8
Bullis by Kasey Countee .......................................................................8
Artwork by Stephen Clement .................................................................9
Just Do It by Zach Fingerhut .................................................................9
Respect by Alex Robinson ...................................................................10
Artwork by Blake Priddy .....................................................................10
Nervous by Tyler Rock ........................................................................10
Friendship by Devin Peelman .............................................................11
Artwork by Lauren Halle .....................................................................12
The Room by Alessandra Mejia ...........................................................12
Artwork by Monica Zuckerman ...........................................................12
Artwork by Sasha Frye ........................................................................13
First Day At Bullis by Melanie Friedlander .........................................13
The Door by Alex Robinson ................................................................15
Artwork by Tyler Rock ........................................................................15
Playground by Brett Barrera ................................................................15
Friends by Nebe Samuel ......................................................................16
Artwork by Justin Hoch .......................................................................16
Sauna Of Death by Matt Hansan .........................................................17
Artwork by Lauren Halle .....................................................................17
Artwork by Justin Briggs .....................................................................17
Artwork by Melissa Palmer .................................................................18
Boy’s Life by Kendall Hay ...................................................................18
Tammy Pebble Smack Down by Justin Briggs .....................................19
Surprises by Alec Bertero ....................................................................21
Artwork by Drew Micholas .................................................................21
Artwork by Morgan Foery ...................................................................21
Three Friends by Lyneé Belton ...........................................................22
Artwork by Calista Tavallali ................................................................22
The Hill by Laura Brundred .................................................................22
Artwork by Tyamonee Johnson ...........................................................23
Timber by Joe Novosel.........................................................................23
Love by Morgan Foery .........................................................................25
Artwork by Drew Micholas .................................................................25
Life by Caitlin McMahon .....................................................................25
Artwork by Michael Mancuso .............................................................26
Uncle David by Carly Steren ...............................................................26
Talked And Laughed by Lamonte Armstrong ......................................26
Artwork by Brittani Campbell .............................................................26
Artwork by Olivia De Pandi ................................................................27
3

Artwork by Jamaal David ....................................................................27
Artwork by Sonam Mehndiratta ..........................................................27
Artwork by Taylor Hoffman ................................................................27
Fire by Jack Chellman .........................................................................27
Artwork by Leo Kelly ..........................................................................28
Evolution In Three Chapters by Brett Barrera .....................................28
Try by Eleni Baker ...............................................................................30
Artwork by Mollie Carroll ...................................................................30
Superman by Rachael Shuster .............................................................30
Artwork by Eliana Roseen ...................................................................32
Lost In A Carnival by Brandon Kay ....................................................32
Artwork by Chris Reneberg .................................................................33
Artwork by Rehan Ghani .....................................................................34
Kitty by Sandrita Borckardt .................................................................34
The Hysterical Night by Kendall Buck ................................................36
Artwork by Ben Brown ........................................................................36
Artwork by Dariah Manesh .................................................................37
Lost In New York City by Allison Leasure ...........................................37
Artwork by Owen Caulfi eld .................................................................38
Mall With My Brother by Paulina Rubin .............................................38
Artwork by Bruce Jansa .......................................................................40
The Shock by Daniel Ayre ....................................................................40
Artwork by Kathryn Kunkle ................................................................41
When Is The Day Going To End? by Alessandra Mejia .......................41
Artwork by Justin Briggs .....................................................................42
Not Worth It by Rob Trone ...................................................................43
My Six-Year-Old Heart Attack by Nebe Samuel ..................................44
Artwork by Jordan Czerwiec ...............................................................45
Fun In The Summer Sun by Kevin Heymann ......................................45
Lacrosse by Jane Beightol ...................................................................46
Artwork by Lara Segrillo .....................................................................46
Nerves by Greg Lovegrove ..................................................................46
Artwork by Bruce Jansa .......................................................................46
My Sport by Joe Stucky ......................................................................46
The Fall by Adam Cohen .....................................................................47
Artwork by Paul Mavrikes ...................................................................47
Artwork by Lara Segrillo .....................................................................48
Horseback Riding by Allison Leasure .................................................48
Waiting by Joe Stucky ..........................................................................49
Artwork by Chris Reneberg .................................................................49
A Game Of Baseball by Matt Hansan ..................................................49
The Chicken Nugget War by Brian Kelley ...........................................50
Race by Brigid McCaffery ...................................................................51
TV Tragedy by Allison Leasure ............................................................51
4

Artwork by Kyle McKenzie .................................................................51
Artwork by Aaron Briggs .....................................................................52
Oops! by Ryan Siegel ..........................................................................52
Artwork by Paul Mavrikes ...................................................................53
Respect by Brittani Campbell ..............................................................53
Respect by Rebecca Mazer ..................................................................53
Respect by Blake Priddy ......................................................................53
Artwork by Owen Caulfi eld .................................................................54
Open Book by Scott Bettigole ..............................................................54
Artwork by Owen Caulfi eld .................................................................54
Snow! by Devin Peelman .....................................................................55
Artwork by Matt Peel ...........................................................................55
Painful Skiing by Amanda Greenberg ..................................................55
Artwork by Nick Sussman ...................................................................57
There Will Come Snow by Laura Brundred .........................................57
Christmas by Matt Peel ........................................................................58
Artwork by Drew Micholas .................................................................58
Christmas Presents by Drew Micholas ................................................58
Seasons by Rob Trone ..........................................................................58
Time by Owen Caulfi eld .......................................................................59
Spring, Finally by Oriana Theo ...........................................................59
Ladybug by Oriana Theo......................................................................60
Artwork by Khalil Osman ....................................................................60
The One-Eyed Cat Peeping In The Seafood Store by Oriana Theo .....60
Artwork by Michael Mancuso .............................................................60
Artwork by Drew Micholas .................................................................61
The Beach by Kendall Hay ..................................................................61
Burning Home by Michael Mancuso ...................................................62
Respect by Chelsea Widerlite ...............................................................62
Respect by Brian Kelley .......................................................................62
Respect by Brigid McCaffery ..............................................................62
Respect by Brandon Kay ......................................................................62
Artwork by Jaclyn Shin .......................................................................63
No Rules by Kasey Countee .................................................................63
Artwork by Ross Allen.........................................................................64
Strength Versus Strength by Lamonte Armstrong ................................64
Artwork by Justin Briggs .....................................................................65
Anticipation by Kendall Buck ..............................................................65
Cue by Rachael Shuster .......................................................................65
Artwork by Alex Zakrzeski ..................................................................65
Artwork by Stephen Clement ...............................................................65
Exit by Amanda Greenberg ..................................................................65
‘lone Jazz by Ian Giles .........................................................................65
Artwork by Sam Greenberg .................................................................65
5

Pause by Justin Hoch ...........................................................................66
Did You Hear That? by Chelsea Widerlite ...........................................66
Artwork by Rehan Ghani .....................................................................66
Artwork by Eliana Roseen ...................................................................67
Artwork by Brian Bagheri ...................................................................68
Observation by Colton Harrington ......................................................68
Artwork by Caitlin McMahon .............................................................69
My Path by Anya Fasolyak ..................................................................69
Artwork by Ryan Siegel .......................................................................70
Teamwork by Joe Novosel ...................................................................70
Artwork by Ben Brown ........................................................................70
Stories Through The Stadium by Ben Catt ...........................................71
Artwork by Lamonte Armstrong ..........................................................72
Unity by Rashaad Wise ........................................................................72
Our Battle Cry by Jack Chellman ........................................................73
Artwork by Colton Harrington .............................................................73
Artwork by Nick Sussman ...................................................................74
List Of Contributors .............................................................................75
Special Thanks .....................................................................................76
6

Perfection
- Jack Chellman
My footsteps leave a golden trail,
My mouth,
It speaks not one false word,
Perfection echoes,
From my lips,
The doors of old have opened up,
To leave the cosmos,
At my will,
The moonlight sings,
The sunlight roars,
Wind and water dance the sky,
And I shall start,
To paint the stars.
7
- Lamonte Armstrong

Bullis
- Kasey Countee
Broad
Unique
Likeable
Loveable
Interesting
Students
8
- Joe Stucky

- Stephen Clement
Just Do It
- Zack Fingerhut
You can become anything you want to be
You can become rich
Instantly famous
Or a prodigy, too
Never look back with regret
You already know how
To look forward to your future fame.
I won’t be what I am not;
I only ask you to be your best
At anything you want to be.
9

Respect
- Alex Robinson
Respect
Is participation, positivity,
Listening, learning, encouraging
Benevolence.
Nervous
- Tyler Rock
My boss yelled. “Oh, no!” I said to myself while I hid under the
desk.
10
- Blake Priddy

Friendship
- Devin Peelman
You walk through the doors of your first day--
You look at your surroundings and you keep seeing more;
You go to your locker, all alone…
… wondering if you will make new friends at your new school.
You hear a “Hello” and turn around.
You see a girl in her uniform all tucked in. Perfect.
She looks like the model for the “typical Bullis girl.”
You start to talk for the rest of the day.
Next day rolls around, and then you meet a new girl,
Then a new girl, then another girl. After a while, you meet a guy.
You think to yourself, this place is very welcoming.
More years roll around and you’re still best friends with
The “typical Bullis girl.”
Almost three years and you have had your ups and downs
But you are still tight as a knot.
Sleepovers. Staying up late and making inside jokes
That make no sense in the morning.
Vacations. Experiences that are forever in your heart.
Fights. Wishing that they never happened.
But after all this, the best days are school days;
You get to spend time with your best friends.
11

- Lauren Halle
The Room
- Alessandra Mejia
As I walked slowly into the room, staring, I said, “Hi!” my voice
shaking and then cracking. I could feel the tingle in the back of my
throat. I was going to hurl; my whole body started to shake as if I had
the flu and my fever was out of control. Then, I turned my eyes down
to look at my sneakers as I walked into my third-grade classroom on the
first day of school.
- Monica Zuckerman
12

First Day At Bullis
- Melanie Friedlander
“Mel, wake up! It’s time for school! Wake up!” my dad screamed.
“I’m so tired,” I moaned trying to open my eyes. I finally got out of
bed and went to brush my teeth.
“Are you up?” my dad screamed again.
“Yes, yes. I’M UP!” I answered him.
As I finished brushing my teeth and started to get dressed, my sister,
Marni, jumped in my room and asked, “Are you ready for the first day of
third grade?”
“I’m so nervous!” I answered worriedly.
“You will be fine!” Marni excitedly told me.
“Bus!” my mom and dad screamed at the same time.
“Come on, Melanie! The bus is here!” Marni yelled. As I stepped
outside and onto the bus, I got stares from the older kids as I strolled
down the aisle and into my seat. I was nervous.
“Marni, you’re going to walk me to my classroom right?” I asked.
“Yes! I will I promise!” Marni answered.
13
- Sasha Frye

“Thank you,” I quietly spoke as I looked out the window.
“We’re at school, Mel!” Marni told me.
“Whoa, so many kids are here! Do they all go to Bullis?” I asked
while peeking out the window.
“Yes, they are all students,” Marni announced.
“They are all so big,” I replied.
“This is our stop!” Marni shrieked as she stood up.
“Where is my classroom?” I started thinking about many things.
Would I have friends? Would the people be nice? Would I be smart or
dumb compared to the other kids? As we got off the bus and into
school, I started to get a terrible stomach ache.
As I began to walk upstairs and into the sixth grade hallway, my
stomach hurt even more. The noise of the lockers slamming shut and
of the kids running around made me want to go back home and into my
room. It also made sweat drop down my face and my whole body start
to shake. All of a sudden, I saw my sister’s friend, Cate, “Hi, Marni! Hi,
Melanie! Are you excited for third grade?” she asked me.
I didn’t even know what to answer after I spied the hallway of kids.
“Kind of,” I finally opened my mouth.
“Oh, look! There’s my locker!” Marni shouted as she ran over to it.
I followed, dragging my feet on the ground and moving slower than a
snail, feeling like the new little girl that everyone was staring at.
As I finally got to Marni’s locker, my heart felt like it was going to melt.
“Marni, when are you going to take me to my classroom?” I asked
sitting there anxiously, waiting for a response.
“Umm…” Marni moaned. “Well, I only have five minutes to get to
class; I am so sorry!” Marni said as she picked up her books and started
to stroll away. The only thing going through my head was “I want to go
home and never come back.”
As I stood alone in a new school with all new people, I started to feel
like I wanted to die. Everyone wandered around me, not even talking to
me, or showing me to my classroom. I started to march in a direction
down the hallway, hoping that the direction was towards my classroom.
Walking the hallway seemed like the hardest thing I had ever done until I
saw a classroom that said 3A Ms. Hubler’s room, and it had my name on
the door. “I made it!” I bubbled to myself.
“Hello, Melanie! Welcome to third grade!” Ms. Hubler announced
with a warm welcome.
“I am going to like it here,” I whispered to myself.
14

The Door
- Alex Robinson
The blood pounded in my temple. I felt jumpy. Adrenaline pumped
through my system. “This is your first class,” the teacher said as she
pushed me through the door. As soon as I stepped inside, my heart began
to beat faster, the blood rushing to my face. I blushed as I stood in front
of the whole class.
Playground
- Brett Barrera
“Yippee,” cried the child in blue.
“Yay!” shouted his friend, too.
As they climbed across the monkey bars.,
As a girl was swinging on the swing,
A boy was hitting a bell with a loud cling.
Three boys played in the sandbox
And another played with a truck.
The bell had rung. They all ran in.
The playground is silent.
The playground is still.
The playground is quiet,
Until…
15
- Tyler Rock

Friendship
- Nebe Samuel
A friend is someone who has
your back
Someone who always gives
you a
Shoulder to lean on.
A friend is someone who’s
seen you cry
Someone who is there to wipe
your tears.
A friend is someone who
makes you smile
Someone you think about
throughout the day.
It’s hard to know if you have a
real friend
But it’s worth the try.
Once you fi nd one or two best
friends
You’ll know why.
A friend is someone who you
trust
Someone you can tell
everything to.
A friend is someone who
you’re comfortable around
Someone who you can
do almost anything
around without getting
embarrassed.
Friendship is sacred.
16
- Justin Hoch

The Sauna Of Death
- Matt Hansan
The hair on the back of my neck
started to prick up as the cool water was
becoming more than cool. We played one
more game of water volleyball and then
decided to go in the hot tub.
“Let’s go dry off,” I said to my friend,
Paul. We hopped out of the hot tub and
headed towards the locker room. I opened
the door, and Paul came in after me.
“Hey, let’s go in the sauna,” Paul
- Lauren Halle
announced with a spark of excitement.
“Sure,” I answered not thinking
about it. Then visions of all the horrible things that could happen
to me went through my mind. The worst was the thought of getting
stuck in the sauna and dying of heat exhaustion.
“Actually, I think I will just get dried off. You can go in though,” I
retorted still with the thought of getting trapped in my mind.
“Come on, dude! It’s not scary,” Paul explained in a tone that
meant you are going in whether you like it or not!
“Okay,” I replied not wanting to get in an argument. Paul went in, and
I followed after him. I turned back around and pushed the door to see if it
would open. Luckily, it did. I sat down and soon became very relaxed.
“This isn’t scary at all,” I thought to myself.
“Bleeeeeeep!!” went the power as the
lights went out and the sauna went black.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
we screamed as we plowed through
the door and dove on the floor of the
locker room. Paul and I laughed as we
got up from the floor.
“I say we go back in the ‘Sauna of
Death’,” I joked. We both laughed at the
“Sauna of Death” part and decided to go
back in.
This time, I didn’t go back and check
the door.
17
- Justin Briggs

Boy’s Life
- Kendall Hay
Over one hundred stingers
Dropped down
On their heads
Sitting directly in front of me
She started staring at me
With those black eyes
Everyone out
He screamed
She screamed
A slow smile
Spread across her crooked mouth
Horror choked me
Wasps darted
And stung
Felt like my head was going to blow off
The demon
She could read minds
She got me
18
- Melissa Palmer

Tammy Pebble Smack Down
- Justin Briggs
We slowly creep to a halt in the driveway, “All right, I’m grabbing
Raphael, either be silent or die a painful death when I come back,”
Tammy threatens. She steps out of the car; I’m listening to music on
Jim’s iPod. Jim is smacking Taylor while he twiddles his thumbs. Andy
is texting, and Larry is fighting with Will. Chuck is in the back keeping
to himself. We’re all minding our business and not making a fuss, but we
all know the inevitable. Raphael is coming. It is late, and he will want
to sleep. Our only option is to be silent, or die painfully by the hand of
Tammy Pebble.
“Is that Tammy coming?” Larry whispers.
“I think so, and she looks like she’s holding Raphael,” I say.
“Everyone better be quiet or we’re all going to get an earful,”
Andy warns us.
Tammy stalks towards the car, dead silent; she has done this before.
She slowly opens the door, so she does not stir Raphael awake. He
cringes a little bit but does not wake up. Tammy slowly hands him off to
Andy. While Andy expertly transfers a bottle into Raphael’s mouth, we
begin our drive to McDonald’s.
“What do you guys want? Write it down, and hurry up!” Tammy
whispers while still managing to be loud, as she passes back a notepad
and pen.
We all pass the pad around and write down our orders by the light
of a phone. The list ends up consisting mainly of large fries, double
cheeseburgers, the occasional order of ten-piece chicken nuggets, along
with many large drinks. Everyone can hear Raphael’s soft snores in
the background. We all try to be as meticulous as possible while
writing and passing the note, pen, and cell phone, until the pad
finally reaches Will Pebble.
“Mom! What do we usually get for me?” he yells.
“Shut up!” everyone screams in unison.
“But what do I get?” he whines.
“William, I will beat you if you wake my baby up. You usually get a
double cheeseburger without pickles. Now, write it down!” she blunders.
Raphael stirs in his sleep from the commotion, we all hold our
breath. The list ends up being completed and passed back to the front of
the car, while we make our deathly-quiet drive to McDonald’s.
“Make sure this list is what you guys want or I’m just going to buy a
ridiculous amount of French fries,” Tammy forewarns.
19

We all nod our heads and tell her that is all, “It better be, and now let
me tell all of you bozos one more time, if you wake my baby up, I will
kill you, no matter how much I love all of you. Goodbye, for now,” she
threatens full of love.
We are all slightly shaken by this but still wait in anticipation for
the food to come. Today was a long day-- full of lacrosse games, the
blazing sun, endless running, and not enough water. Our eyes are weary
and some of us start drifting off into an unwanted slumber. My eyes are
slowly drifting shut, until Will loudly exclaims, “Guys! What are we
going to do when we get home?”
Everyone glares while Andy carefully explains to him, “William, we
all have had a long day followed with a long movie; we are all going to
eat, sleep, and shower.”
“But I didn’t play today at all!” he yells, while Raphael mumbles
something undistinguishable.
“That’s because you’re not good enough to play with us. Now shut
up. You are going to wake up Raphael,” Larry obnoxiously threatens.
“Guys on a scale of one to ten, how scary are Tammy’s threats?” I
giggle, smiling impishly.
“I think I peed my pants,” Chuck says, for the first time all night,
while we all laugh.
“My soul just got taken,” I say.
“I’m going to cry myself to sleep tonight,” Jim whimpers.
“Everyone be quiet. My mom’s coming back,” Taylor warns us.
Tammy stalks back to the car, and we all act like we do not see her.
She lightly bangs on the window to tell us to open up. Once the door is
open, the smell of fries wafts into the car. Our hunger is uncontrollable,
so we all end up spending a solid five minutes rifling through bags and
tasting different drinks to determine which is rightfully ours. Tammy
commands, “Taylor, hold my drink and Andy’s on the dashboard for a
second, while I back up.”
“Fine,” he complies.
Tammy slowly drifts out of the parking space to an abrupt halt.
Smack! The drinks fall onto the floor.
“Taylor!” everyone screams.
“Taylor Pebble, this is a new car and you just spilled Coca-Cola all
over it!” she yells furiously.
“Mo-…mo-m…Mommy!” we all hear from Andy’s arms.“Oh,
goodness, Taylor, now you’ve done it. You have woken up my baby,”
Tammy screams, not caring about her volume anymore.
“We are all going home this instant,” Tammy yells.
20

We are all silent as we make the drive home. It is almost painful;
Taylor is ashamed and upset. We are all trying not to make Tammy any
more upset. We finally arrive at home; the three minute drive ends after
what feels like three hours. The car creeps to a stop in the driveway.
“Everyone, get out, eat, sleep,” she says, taking Raphael out of
Andy’s hands and walking inside.
We all decide to eat outside so we do not wake up Mr. Pebble.
At five-thirty that night
I’m in the parking lot.
I have no idea why
I go Along.
Surprises
- Alec Bertero
The school bus wheels in
The door swings open
The last kid climbs onto the bus
I find myself sprinting across the asphalt
I go Along.
I’m on the bus
The door’s hissing as they shut behind me
I wonder where I’m supposed to sit
I go Along.
- Morgan Foery
21
- Drew Micholas
There are plenty of empty seats
I find an empty double and settle by
the window
Somebody sits next to me
I flinch
I look up
It’s Sharon Willis
I’m cool
I go Along.

Three Friends
- Lyneé Belton
We laugh; we giggle; we have fun, and we don’t have fun--
Sometimes we don’t even get done what we were supposed to get done.
Every time I’m with my best friends, I’m always smiling no matter what.
We all play basketball, and we are very good,
We call ourselves “The Unstoppable Three”...
We bring each other up when one of us is down,
And sometimes that even means someone falling to the ground.
We compete against each other in the most outrageous ways.
But it makes us laugh at the end of the day.
My three best friends will always be there for me.
And I will always be there for them.
The Hill
- Laura Brundred
As we neared the tennis bubble, I said to Sandrita and Alessandra,
“Let’s take a shortcut through the woods.”
Alessandra replied with her huge, concerned voice, “It’s really icy
today and there is a steep hill. I don’t think that is a good idea.”
“Whatever, it’s faster. We will be careful,” Sandrita added.
Alessandra did not want to risk falling, but Sandrita and I struck out
on the path through the woods. The ground was icy, and we held onto
each other to keep from falling. Just as we got to the top of the big hill,
Sandrita fell. Since she was holding on to me, I fell on top of her and we
slid down the hill through the mud, to the bottom.
As we picked ourselves up and surveyed the damage of muddy
clothes and body parts, Sandrita said, “Maybe Alessandra was right.”
22
- Calista Tavallali

Timber
- Joe Novosel
On a hot Monday morning, in the middle of June, the sun was just
above the tree line. I jogged over to my friend’s house, which was only
two houses down the road when I overheard three workers saying, “…
so we all know the plan to cut down this dead tree, right?” I stopped my
jog, curious, and looked up at the dead tree. I stared at the bare, lifeless
limbs of the tall, lumbering tree. I thought it was about time for that tree
to come down; it had been about two weeks since the workers marked
it dead with the orange dot two feet high on the tree trunk. After I was
finished staring, I continued my jog down the street to Thomas’s house.
“What were those workers talking about?” Thomas asked. He was
sitting in a chair on his porch, viewing the workers as they started to
stride away.
“They made plans about how they were going to cut down the tree…
that’s all I heard,” I replied. We focused on them as they left for their
trucks. Thomas yelled to one of the workers, “When are you going to cut
down the tree!?”
“We’re going to cut down the tree tomorrow!” the worker shouted
back at us, as he hopped into his red pick-up truck. Thomas gave the
worker a thumbs-up, and we went into Thomas’s house to play.
23
- Tyamonee Johnson

The next day, I ran over to Thomas’s again, and Thomas was slouched
in the same chair sleepily watching the workers prepare to cut down the
tree. “You’re up early,” I announced laughing. “It’s only 10:30.”
“I didn’t want to miss the tree fall,” he replied.
“I can’t believe that you would give up thirty minutes of sleep
to watch this,” I retorted in a joking voice. We stopped talking and
watched the workers. They were throwing ropes around tree limbs to
lift themselves to higher branches. Once they got that done, they made
complicated knots with the ropes on their belts so they could scale the
tree. After they were suspended ten feet in the air and right in front
of the tree limb, they took their chainsaws off their belts and one of
them placed his saw on the branch. Sawdust showered off as the saw
cut through the branch like it was butter sliced with a hot knife. Every
time the workers would cut a big branch, it would fall onto the cracked
pavement of the road and make an explosion of splinters on impact.
At this, Thomas and I would cheer. After we watched many big limbs
fall, we got bored and went inside to do other things for a while, but we
would check the tree every several minutes. We did not want to miss the
climax of the tree falling, the trunk coming crashing to the ground.
After the workers had hewn their way through most of the limbs,
leaving many small hills of sawdust under the tree, it was time for the
finale, for the twenty-foot tall tree trunk to come crashing down. The
workers started by taking massive chainsaws out of their trucks, and
simultaneously cut two similar lines one third of the way through the
trunk. The first line was straight and the other line did the exact same
thing above the first line, but this time the workers cut it at an angle
instead of straight, creating a triangle. Then they pulled out the wedge.
Once they had finished that, the workers attached a metal ring connected
to a rectangular piece of metal around the ring that would direct the
path of the tree to fall. The workers did the same thing to another tree
approximately the same size so when the trunk fell it would fall onto the
road and not into my friend’s house.
Finally, they started to cut though the remaining end of the main
trunk. “It would be funny if the tree would crush one of those cars over
there,” Thomas joked. We both laughed and the tree began to fall. We
watched with anticipation for the explosion of wood on the road.
“Timber!” we both yelled excitedly as the tree slowly began to fall
and gained speed. It hit the pavement but the trunk did not explode; it
just made a deafening noise, dented the road and cracked the pavement
even further.
24

Love
- Morgan Foery
Dream for me.
What you see
Is up to you
When you say
“I love you, too.”
Life
- Caitlin McMahon
My heart is filled with joy;
My mind is filled with wisdom.
My body is powered by enjoyment of the world,
And my esteem is powered by friendships.
My life, filled with love,
My nerves, filled with anxiety.
But the best part of me
Has always been you.
25
- Drew Micholas

- Michael Mancuso
Uncle David
- Carly Steren
Holidays, barbeques, birthdays
and more
Times with you were never a bore.
I remember one time we went to
a fair--
And how you always had a big
smile from your special chair.
We talked about my Bat Mitzvah
and how
You wouldn’t be able to share it,
But remembering our happy times
helped us
All to bear it.
I didn’t understand why the only
thing
I could do was sit by you and hold
your hand
Until you and mom explained to
me
You were a sick man.
Now, I look back on the times and
all we shared
And I think you are probably
looking down
From your special chair.
26
Talked And Laughed
- Lamonte Armstrong
“Oh, yes,” she said, “he is very
much alive.”
Like all the numbers, “ten, nine,
seven, six and five,”
So don’t sit there like an ugly red
sweater.
We talked and laughed
On top of the big, dazzling, green
hill.
I filled to burst with pride,
She turned to me and smiled.
I’ve never been this close before,
So I have never seen the color of
her eyes.
We talked and laughed.
Brighter than some,
We are rolling on through the
night.
My young life has suddenly
become deliciously complete.
We talked and laughed
On top of the big, dazzling, green
hill.
- Brittani Campbell

- Olivia De Pandi
- Jamaal David
- Sonam Mehndiratta
- Taylor Hoffman
27
Fire
- Jack Chellman
Fire, fire is all we speak,
The mighty crackles
The burning peals,
Its godlike power among us mortals,
To cut and devour,
As we watch it chortle,
But what of water, air, and earth,
More peaceful elements,
Than fire’s cruel girth,
And though fire has our eyes right now,
The center ring act,
To give us wow,
Let’s not forget the fire’s masters,
Throw earth on the flames,
In natural disasters,
And water staunches fire’s show,
As air will do
The candles know.

Evolution In Three Chapters
- Brett Barrera
Chapter 1: The Monster
- Leo Kelly
“Ahh!” I screamed. I jumped up and raced to my bed. I grabbed my
blanket and threw it over me. “He’s gonna get me. He’s gonna get me.
He’s gonna get me,” I repeated. I was sweating bullets, I was so scared.
My mom sprinted into the room. “What’s wrong?” she asked. She
was breathing hard. Her chest was heaving up and down.
“There’s a monster in my closet,” I squealed. “Make him go
away, mommy!”
“Honey, there is nothing to be afraid of. Look.” She stepped
over to my closet and opened the door. My clothes were hung up on
their hangers, nothing more. “See?” she stated. “Now, I want you to
go to bed.”
“Ok,” I mumbled. She walked over to the door and turned off the
lights. They flickered then went out. She shut the door with a muffled
28

thud. As I was getting ready to go back to bed, I heard a noise from my
closet. “Ahh!” I screamed.
Chapter 2: Setting The Traps
I woke up the next morning and bounded out of my blue, colored
bed sheets. “I’m alive!” I squealed, as I checked myself for any wounds.
I realized that this monster meant business, so I sprinted down the stairs
to the kitchen to eat my breakfast. I was stalling. I did not want to ask
my mom how to get rid of the monster, because I thought it was really
embarrassing, but I finally built up the courage. “Mom? How do you get
rid of the monster in your closet?”
“You have to tell the monster to stop bothering you.”
“I already tried that, but he’s still there.”
“Have you told him face to face?” I looked at her in shock, and then
in perfect understanding.
“I get it, mom!” I shouted.
“Ok, then, dear. Let’s go to school.” We strolled out of the door for
school.
Chapter 3: The Hero In The Dark
I was getting ready for bed; my mom walked in and told me a story.
When she was done, she whispered, “Are you ready for bed?”
“Yup,” I replied.
“Ok, good night.” I put my head under the cover until she left. I
hopped out of bed and tiptoed over to my closet. I stood there deciding if
I should go in.
“Mister Monster?” I stammered. No answer. I put my hand on the
doorknob and turned it. I opened the closet door. There was nothing in
there. I stepped into the closet. “Hello!” I exclaimed. All of a sudden, a
figure jumped out and tried to descend upon me. I fell down and closed
my eyes. Something pressed up against me. I opened my eyes and there
was my cat Snowball.
My cat had been protecting me this whole time. I stood up, crawled
into my bed, and I fell asleep with no problem. That was the last time the
monster bothered me.
29

Try
- Eleni Baker
I hated the tests,
Raised hopes,
And failed expectations,
I began to cry.
I promised myself
I won’t be what I am not,
But I was so determined not to try.
- Mollie Carroll
Superman
- Rachael Shuster
Every adult knows that sometimes children like to have fun. They
like to have fun and sometimes do some dangerous things without
realizing it. Children are constantly learning, whether it is school-related
or maybe life-lesson related. Children always ask the question, “Why?”
because they are curious and want to learn.
I slowly tip-toed to the top of the steps. I stopped, with my toes at
the rim of the first step, and glanced down. I looked from side to side as
if I were about to cross a busy street and to check if my babysitter was
30

in sight; she was not. My head slowly turned to the window. The shining
sun was the only thing in the sky, no clouds were in sight. The birds were
happily chirping and flying from tree to tree having a great time.
Both of my parents were at work, so I knew that I would get “off the
hook.” Well, at least until they came home. My babysitter was upstairs
cleaning and I had the middle floor and the basement all to myself. I
looked down the steps another time and thought, “I wonder if I could
fly?” I thought of all the ways my life would be easier and more fun if I
could. “Well, there is one way to find out!” I thought to myself.
Young children do not know what is right and they do not know what
is wrong. They do not really understand what is good and do not really
understand what is bad— what is a good thing to do and what is a bad
thing to do. They are always learning and comprehending. It is important
to explain things to them in a way that children can understand.
I backed up a couple of steps and I checked my surroundings one
more time to see if my babysitter was in sight; she was not. I quickly
counted to three, “One, two, three!” I shouted.
On three, I bolted towards the steps as if I was jumping into a pool,
except this pool had no water. I leapt into mid-air, head-first with my
arms out in front of me as if I could fly, but I am not Superman. I landed
a few steps below the top step and slid and tumbled down the staircase
with a loud thump! I hit the ground, but I did not stop moving. I ran right
into the wall at the bottom of the staircase.
Adults and children do some things without thinking of safety, and
they get hurt. I started to tear up in my eyes as my hands, arms, knees,
legs, elbows and most importantly, my face burned from the carpet. My
hands and knees were the most red from the rug burn, and they started to
bleed a little bit.
Soon enough, I was crying. Tears were rolling down from my cheeks.
Then, I was sobbing. My babysitter must have heard me fall down the
steps because she came running to me screaming, “Rachael! Rachael!
Are you alright? What’s wrong? What happened?”
She quickly helped soothe the burns on my hands, knees, and
elbows. They stung so much. More tears started to pour out of my eyes.
“What were you thinking?” my babysitter asked me, looking into my
eyes. I did not know the answer to her question, because I thought about
what happened, and I did not understand what I had been thinking. I tried
to think harder to help me understand, but I still did not know what had
been running through my mind then. I did not know the answer to her
question, so I just stood there with a blank look on my wet, little face.
31

Lost in a Carnival
- Brandon Kay
“One hot dog, please,” my mom requested. A stuffed animal caught
my eye.
“Oh, wow!” I thought. I stepped closer and closer until I could touch
the stuffed zebra.
“Hey, you can’t touch that!” the old, grumpy man yelled.
“Sorry,” I replied. I turned around to look at the hot dog stand and
my mom was missing. I thought to myself, “Where could she be?” As I
walked back over to the stand, I looked everywhere but she was nowhere
to be found. Then I realized, there is no one now to tell me what to do; I
can go do anything I want without anyone telling me otherwise.
I gazed around and I knew nobody. I felt like an ant in a big house.
Everyone looked so different. The games seemed like a lot of fun to play,
and I watched in envy. I strutted over to one game where you had to pop
the balloons with a dart.
“Can I play?” I questioned the kind-looking man. He was wearing a
black and white suit with nice dress shoes.
32
- Eliana Roseen

“You need money to play. Now scram!” he snapped in annoyance.
Shocked by how he talked to me, I waddled away in disappointment.
As I wandered the park, the last thought on my mind was to find my
mom. All of the games looked like so much fun. There were also clowns
and horses all around. As I swayed along, and I petted a horse, “Aww,
good horsey,” I said. I wandered and wandered confused and happy at
the same time.
Then, I started to wonder how long I would be at the carnival.
Then, I started to miss my mom.
“Mom!” I cried. There was no answer. I had no clue what to do. At
one point, I just stood still trying to think. I was distracted by all of the
games, the people, and all of the rides. I saw a nice-looking man; he was
wearing a red jacket with jeans and a nice pair of shoes, so I decided to
ask him for help.
“Excuse me, can you please help me?” I asked politely.
“Sorry, I can’t. Just go away,” he answered without even giving it
much thought.
I searched and searched for my mom and found nothing.
“Mom!” I hollered. “Mom!” There was no answer at all. I decided to
journey back to the hot dog stand. I asked the hotdog salesman where my
parents were, and he said he had no clue. I was running around getting a
little scared of everyone around me. I was so scared so I started to sprint,
and I moved past the entrance when I heard a scream.
“Brandon!” my mom yelled. My excitement surprised me. I raced
right into my mom’s arms.
33
- Chris Reneberg

Kitty
- Sandrita Borckardt
Losing things when you are five is always a big deal. Kids freak out
if they misplace their favorite action figure or their prettiest Barbie doll.
Things like these are what frustrate a little kid-- not bills, not grades, not
her appearance, but losing her prized possession.
When I was five years old, I had and still have, my favorite stuffed
animal. Her name is Kitty, and my grandmother gave her to me when
I was two. I love her so much, and when I was young I would take her
absolutely everywhere I would go. No matter the time or place, she was
always by my side.
I had just gotten home from a friend’s birthday party where we
decorated plastic purses, ate cake, and ran around all day. When
stepping into my home, I tripped on a small step and Kitty’s ear went
right into the wet paint of the purse I had made. I was upset and
grumpy because I let myself do that to her. I was also tired and dirty
from running around all day. My mom suggested taking a shower to
calm myself down, and to get ready to watch a movie with the family.
After hearing that we were going to watch a movie, my grumpiness
faded away.
Kitty in hand, I pounced like a cat into the bathroom and turned the
faucet right to the middle so that the temperature would be just right. I
went back to my room, now dancing like a ballerina, and grabbed my
pajamas, which were still warm from the dryer. I hopped like a frog
quickly back to the bathroom because I didn’t want the water to overflow
out of the tub. Chanting, “Ribbit, ribbit,” I shut the water off and threw
all of my waterproof toys into the bathtub. Her fur would become ruined
34
- Rehan Ghani

if a single droplet of water dared to fall on Kitty’s fur, so I put her in the
cupboard under the sink, as if it were her own changing area. I carefully
sat into the tub making sure not to splash any water on the ground. I
began to make sound effects with my water toys, “Vroom, vroom!” I
screamed as my toy boat glided across the water. After all of the water
games, I was even more exhausted than I had been earlier. I completely
forgot about the movie and collapsed onto my bed.
When you lose things when you are a kid, you don’t think of where
you last placed them. You don’t think about retracing your steps. You
don’t think about who had your possession last. All you seem to think
about is nothing.
Half an hour had past, and I still couldn’t stop tossing and turning. I
tried to twist and turn my body into every little position I could, hoping
that I would fall asleep. But nothing seemed to be working. All of a
sudden, a light flickered on in my head, I finally figured out what was
missing from my bed. I got up and started running around my room
frantically looking for her. Out of desperation, I screamed as loud as my
little five-year-old lungs could, “Kitty!”
My mom, my dad, my grandmother, and my brother came running
up to my room. “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” they all asked.
“I can’t find Kitty. I’ve looked all over my room and I have
absolutely no idea where she can be!” I cried.
“Um, alright, okay, calm down Samantha. We’ll find her. Where did
you place her last?” asked my mom.
“Um, um, I don’t remember. She could be anywhere!” I screamed.
Knowing that I wasn’t going to rest without having Kitty in my arms, my
mom put out a search party. She told everyone to get on his or her knees
to look for the missing kitten. After looking for at least half an hour, my
family gave up.
During those thirty minutes, I cried non-stop, and my eyes were
as red as a tomato. My grandma called me into the bathroom, so that
she could wash my face. She sat me on the sink, and opened a cabinet
where she kept small towels. “Look what we have here… Looks
familiar?” said my grandma while taking Kitty out of the cupboard. I
finally remembered where I had put Kitty, but I remembered a little bit
too late. I felt so bad for making everyone look all over the place, but at
that time I didn’t really care. All I cared about was having Kitty back
with me. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!” was apparently
the only thing that I could think of saying. I grabbed Kitty in my arms
and wouldn’t let her go. Even though kids panic over losing their toys,
someone is always there to help them regain their composure.
35

The Hysterical Night
- Kendall Buck
I trudged up the hill in a tired fashion, towards my hotel, pushing
tropical palm leaves out of my way.
“Are we there yet?” I asked my dad.
“Now we are,” he answered as we finally cleared the hill and got an
entire view of our Barbadian resort.
“Finally,” Cameron stated, for we had had a long day of travel. Our
cab ride was long and was followed by the long walk to the hotel.
We passed by the many beautiful trees, pools, and restaurants as we
continued towards the desk and got the keys to our room. We took the
elevator to our floor and entered the room. It was a nice room with two
queen beds and a balcony with a beautiful view.
I jumped onto the bed and sprawled out watching the t.v. My whole
body ached from our non-stop movement all day. It was too much for my
little five-year-old body. I was excited to see what would happen next,
but for now I just wanted to rest.
“It’s hot in here,” Cameron complained as he unpacked his suitcase
into the dresser. “Can we open a window?”
“No!” I protested, “Bugs will get in.”
“No, they won’t,” my father retorted. “I’ll open the window.”
Defeated, I fell back on the bed.
“We’re gonna be doing many activities tomorrow. We should get some
shut eye,” suggested my dad.
We didn’t argue. Barbados
had a lot of sights to see and
things to do, but those could wait
until tomorrow. For now, we
would go to sleep.
After thinking about our day’s
adventure, I fell asleep. I woke
feeling a tickle on my nose. I
almost screamed when I saw a big
black bug the size of my thumb
sitting on my pillow right in front
of me. I jumped and turned on
the light to see tons of the flying
cockroaches hanging around the
room. I woke my dad and brother
who were surprised.
“I told you so,” I said.
- Ben Brown
36

Lost In New York City
- Allison Leasure
I tangle my fingers through my thin
hair and put it up in a ponytail because of
the heat. “We need to take the subway,”
my dad announces joyfully as we plod
along in the New York summer’s heat.
- Dariah Manesh
“Ugh,” my brother and I sigh
unhappily. “The subway is SO
unsanitary,” we speak angrily. We trudge along the discolored sidewalk
with people’s spit-out gum lying around, and push through many crowds
of unique people. Then a high-pitched screaming comes from the side of
me. My five-month old, chunky baby sister is crying. “Of course, can
this day get any worse?” I moan in a frustrated tone.
I quickly follow my dad, brother, and stepmom, who is pushing the
baby stroller rapidly ahead. They are walking too fast for me. “Slow
down!” I scream at them, but the sound of trains passing by blurs out
my voice.
My stepmom shoves the stroller onto the long silver train. “Hurry
up!” my dad yells back at me. He reaches out his arm for me, but the
silver door quickly closes.
The train pulls away, and the many different faces in it start moving
toward Bleecker Street, far from where I am. The heat from underground
makes me shift uncomfortably in my clothes. I pull my phone from my
back jean pocket. No service. “Great,” I say, getting more frustrated.
Then I hear soft old voices behind me. Two old ladies, both with
bright white hair, are sitting behind me on the discolored black bench.
“Are you all right?” they ask with worried tones in their voices.
“I guess they will come back for me,” I reply uncertainly. I grasp my
phone in my hand, and nervously walk away. Then I remember my dad
telling me a long time ago to stay in one spot when you’re lost.
I stand in the unbearable heat, watching trains go by, but still, no
family. I began having thoughts about kidnapping, and desperately
want my family to come back for me. I don’t even know what my dad’s
apartment building is called. Then, I spot a tall man in a bright blue shirt,
rushing through the thick crowd of people. “ALLISON!” he screams,
looking around the station with a worried look on his face.
“I’m over here!” I call back at him.
He rushes over to me. “I’m so glad I found you. You had me
worried,” he says. Then, we get on the train, and we go home.
37

Mall With My Brother
- Paulina Rubin
On a cold winter night, I was in my bed all bundled up with warm
fuzzy covers, focusing on doing my homework and still in my school
uniform. All of a sudden, my brother burst in, and he was out of breath,
“Oh, no! Paulina! We forgot the basketball socks we need to bring for
school tomorrow!”
I shrieked in response, and realized that the time was already 9:30
p.m., and the mall closed at 10 p.m. “Danny, the mall closes at ten. We
live twenty minutes away. There’s no way we can make it,” I answered
in a panic.
“We can if we rush! Hurry! Let’s go!” he announced as he bolted out
of the room. I slipped on my Sperrys and a winter jacket and ran out of
my door, down the spiral staircase, and followed my brother out of the
front door and towards the car.
My brother and I jumped in the car, buckled our seatbelts until they
clicked, turned on the engine, and zoomed off. He turned to me panting,
“I hope we make it in time!” I nodded in agreement while breathing
38
- Owen Caulfi eld

heavily as if I just had run a mile. In the car, my feet were shaking and
my thoughts were everywhere, worrying about being able to get the
socks in time. As we approached the entrance of the mall, we luckily
found a close parking spot. Anxious to get out of the car, my fingers were
shaking and I was rubbing my knees as if I didn’t know what to do. My
brother pulled into the space, slammed on the brakes, and turned off the
car as we both hopped out of the vehicle.
Immediately as we entered through the screeching automatic doors,
we heard the mall speakerphones say, “Attention shoppers, the mall will
be closing in ten minutes. I repeat the mall will be closing in ten minutes.
Thank you.” Danny and I glanced at each other anxiously and sprinted
to the nearest sports store. As we were running, everyone we passed
had a look on their faces like they had never seen anyone run in a mall
before. While Danny and I were sprinting down the mall, we saw the
store Champs, so we ran in with big smiles on our faces. Happily, we
asked the manager where we could find the high-ankle basketball socks
we were looking for.
“We are closed, sorry. Try Foot Locker,” he exclaimed with a strange
look on his face.
“Ugh. Okay. Thanks,” Danny replied disappointedly.
“Come on, Danny! Let’s hurry!” I screamed. Unfortunately, Foot
Locker was all the way on the opposite side of the mall. We both began
to sprint again at our fastest. I looked down at my watch and gasped,
“Danny, five minutes ‘til closing! Hurry!”
Finally, I saw the sign for Foot Locker, and we both sprinted into
the store out of breath. We slapped hands and began to laugh. As we
started making our way through the store, we both set our eyes on the
exact socks we needed. Danny ran to them, and right before he took them
off the rack, the employee explained to him that he could not purchase
the socks because they were closed. My brother turned around with
disappointment. We both walked out of the store upset.
“I can’t believe this!” Danny said angrily.
“I know. I can’t either. We came all this way for nothing,” I replied
upset. We walked out of the mall and with our heads down, got in the car
and drove off. The ride back was silent. As we were pulled up into the
driveway, I began to chuckle. Danny looked over at me and asked, “What
are you laughing about?”
“Danny! It’s Saturday! Not Sunday! We can just go back tomorrow!”
I spoke with a big excitement. Danny’s eyes widen with shock.
“Oh, my goodness! You’re right!” Danny giggled. We both walked
into the house with relief and smiles on our faces.
39

The Shock
- Daniel Ayre
When I heard Mr. Lumpkin say, “Daniel, I’m sorry, you are going
to have to find a different sport,” I stood there, not realizing what
happened. When I left the room, my eyes were watering up; I was
breathing heavily, and I started choking on my own breath from the
shock. I had just been cut from the basketball team. I was crushed,
because I had to make the team.
At first, I had wanted to play hockey, but my parents said the
equipment was too much to lug. I didn’t know what to do. At the end
of the day, my mom pulled up in the pick-up line, “Hi, honey, how were
your try-outs today?” she asked. I sat there in silence, and then blurted,
“I got cut.” My mom was also in shock, because she knew I should have
made the team.
“Why?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “What sport am I supposed to do? I
asked dejectedly.
“I don’t know. We will talk to dad when we get home,” my mom
soothed. We drove home in silence. When we did get there, my dad was
home, and we told him the bad news. He suggested that I play hockey.
I was elated! Sometimes you think something bad has happened, and
then you realize you got what you wanted all along. We discussed it and
decided I would start hockey on Friday.
40
- Bruce Jansa

- Kathryn Kunkle
When Is The Day Going To End?
- Alessandra Mejia
When you are seven and you embarrass yourself in front of
strangers, it can be traumatizing, embarrassing, and unfortunate.
Why? Because the next time you see those strangers, you will not be
Alessandra, you will be That Girl. You know, the one who did the
embarrassing thing that people remember you by even if you did not
know it was embarrassing, because it happened so quickly and abruptly
that you did not even have time to think.
When I slipped on my new white high heels, I was practically
glowing as I looked in the mirror, because I did not see a short small
seven-year-old girl; I saw a taller, more powerful, and more sophisticated
girl, and to me that was everything. I slipped my church dress on, looked
in the mirror, and thought, “Perfect!”
“I am almost ready for church,” I yelled down to my dad. On
Sundays, I was the only one who got up early enough to go to church
with my parents.
When we arrived, I said, “Hi,” to my church friend, Bella, and her
little sisters. Then I took my seat next to my dad and started to listen to
the Spanish service trying really, really hard to understand.
Then, when the priest finally ended the mass, Bella and I were out
the door and running to the main church. In the main church, they had
donuts and gold fish, which were my favorite!
41

When we headed out of the door and started running over, I realized
that I was doing more of a waddle. When I looked down at my feet, they
were red, and I had blisters the size of tennis balls on my ankles. Soon
I felt a rush of pain, and I winced. I had to slow down a little to a
jog-waddle.
When I got to the main church, I heard the tip-tap of my high heels
on the wood floors, and I smiled to myself. Bella must have been down
the stairs already, because she was nowhere in sight. I was about to walk
down the stairs, too, when of course, being Alessandra, I tripped and fell
down the entire flight, instead. I heard the kerplunk of my body tumbling
down but did not understand what was going on. When I came to the
realization of what had just happened and opened my eyes, a bunch of
strange old women were standing over me asking if I was okay.
My only response was the hot tears I felt pouring down my face. Not
only was I in pain, I was embarrassed and scared that I would have to
go to the hospital. Of course, I over-exaggerate, but there was no place I
hated more than the hospital.
“OMG, are you okay!?!” Bella asked as she helped me onto a chair.
She handed me the gold fish she had saved for me (what a good friend).
“Yes,” I said, my voice shaking a little. Then my mom came in with
a worried look on her face and she asked if I was all right, and I replied,
“Yes,” again. I was actually relieved she did not say, “I told you so,”
because earlier she warned me that high heels were painful and also
dangerous, but of course, I did not pay attention to her and I wore them
anyway (bad idea).
Naturally, I still wear them, because one, I am a girl; two, they
really do make me look a lot taller, and three, I had a lot of Bat
Mitzvahs to attend.
- Justin Briggs
42

Not Worth It
- Rob Trone
Liam and I skated back to the cabin and immediately threw our
boards down, tore our over-sized pads off and collapsed onto our beds.
We then lay in the cool, cabin air for the next five minutes. All of a
sudden, Liam shouted, “Dude, how fun would it be to dive into the
foam pit!?!”
I replied, “What if we dove into the foam pit from a high point?”
“Let’s go!” said Liam. We got up and skated over to one of the
indoor parks that Woodward has to offer called Cloud Nine. Cloud Nine
is a park for everyone who goes to Woodward to enjoy. It has many
things to offer including vert ramps, a vert wall, and a bowl.
“Are you sure I should do this?” I asked at the top of the bar above
the ten-foot ledge.
“Yeah, of course, it’s gonna be awesome!” replied Liam.
“Liam, why aren’t you doing it?” I asked.
He answered, “I hurt my leg really badly earlier.”
But I knew that was a lie. Nonetheless, I said my motivational phrase
and dove in. The amount of hang time I got was surprising and ridiculous.
Shhhhhoooooooo.
The impact made a very distinct noise that you could only imagine
if you did it yourself. I slipped through the first two feet of foam like a
person on a waterslide. I kept falling through the foam until I got deeper,
and eventually the pressure of the foam got heavier from the foam above.
I came to a complete halt lying perfectly vertical and completely buried
by the cheap foam. I used my hand to pull myself up, but there was no
leverage. I kicked my feet and everything, but there was still no leverage
so I had not moved an inch. I kept trying to turn my body around and go
up for air. After a while, I tried to breathe but instead inhaled a mouthful
of foam and started coughing. I was coughing and gasping for air under
there but no one could tell what was happening. I faintly heard Liam say
from above, “Yeah, he dove in from the bar up here and has been down
there for awhile, wait!”
Liam jumped in and pulled me up. When I hit the surface, I gasped
for air and said, “Liam, I am pretty sure you saved my life.”
He responded, “Yeah, well, at least the jump was worth it.”
I then spoke, “No, it definitely wasn’t worth it.”
43

My Six-Year-Old Heart Attack
- Nebe Samuel
I was sitting in a car when my heart nearly blew up. I felt as if I had
run ten miles without a stop. And then came the yell I will never forget, a
yell probably heard on the opposite side of town, “Watch Out!”
Everything was ordinary that Sunday, except that my mom decided
to take our whole family to the store. She knew if she told us at home
that we were going to the store none of us would have gone with her,
so she made sure to tell us when we were all in the car. When we got to
Safeway, we all made sure to make our mom pay for wasting our time.
We refused to go in to shop with her. I asked our mom if we could stay
in the car with our dad, and she said okay. She also chimed in with, “I am
going to take my time!”
After listening to the radio for fifteen minutes, we got tired of the
announcer. I realized that radio stations do more talking than playing
music. I remember they were talking about the Redskin’s game even
though the Redskins were losing. Because we were bored, we decided to
play I-Spy. My little sister, Maya, announced importantly as she always
did, “I call going first!” I sighed obnoxiously. Ever since I began playing
I-Spy, at the age of five, she always had to go first.
My sister and I played for the next twenty minutes before she
happily yelled, “I want to see Uriah.” She obviously knew he lived
around there, so she happily began to sing along with the radio which
was finally playing some music. My dad called my uncle and asked
if he could bring Uriah to the Safeway where we were. My uncle said
they would arrive in ten minutes. We sat patiently in the car for about
what felt like twenty-five, when we finally saw our cousin. “Uriah over
here!” called Maya.
We watched patiently as he and his father got out of the car and
walked slowly to the gas station convenience mart. About three minutes
later, we saw our uncle carrying six sodas and two big bags of chips. He
set the food on the top of his car and began to get into his car. In a trice,
my five-year-old cousin, Uriah, began to cross the street. I yelled when
I saw the car coming. I yelled so loudly that even though the driver’s
windows were not down, the driver probably heard me. He stopped,
and Uriah safely crossed the street. I gave Uriah a hug, and both of us
remember the moment to this day. The event was the scariest moment of
my life; I am so thankful my cousin is still alive. I will always remember
the day I nearly had a heart attack.
44

Fun In The Summer Sun
- Kevin Heymann
“What are those things?” I said.
“Which ones? The red ones?” grandma said.
“Yep.”
“Those are called raspberries. They look ripe, and do you want to
pick them?”
“Sure,” I said excitedly.
My grandma went back into the house to get a bucket.
I wasn’t sure what a raspberry tasted like, so I tried one slowly.
I almost spit it out at first, because I thought it would taste bad. But
amazingly, I loved it. I ate more and more and more. I must have had
two hundred or something in five minutes. When my grandma came
back out she saw two raspberries left on the bush and me with my mouth
stained red.
“Well, you now have a new favorite food,” she laughed. We picked
the last raspberries, and then some tomatoes, grapes and apricots.
“Let’s go eat these inside,” I told her.
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll make some lemonade, too,” and we walked
back into the house.
45
- Jordan Czerwiec

Lacrosse
- Jane Beightol
Lacrosse is fun and challenging, too,
But I always listen to Lloyd
When she tells me how to do.
I catch the ball in
My stick. Then as Caitlin
Sets me a pick, I move
To the goal as
Caitlin gets open so…
The other team is mopin’
‘Cause they know
To goal we will go.
As we run I
Pass to Caitlin…
The other team is done.
Nerves
- Greg Lovegrove
My legs shook as I listened to the coach; my heart pounded faster with
every beat. It felt as if there were much more than butterflies in my stomach.
- Bruce Jansa
46
- Lara Segrillo
My Sport
- Joe Stucky
Dedication, desire, passion
Practicing all day and night
Doing whatever it takes to get better
Shooting all day
Wall ball at night
Tweaking the gear
Camps all summer
Fall ball—a must
Winter is off-season
Spring is here.
It’s the best
Time of the year!

The Fall
- Adam Cohen
Quickly skiing down the slope,
Turning often to stay in control,
Wind running through my hair,
Whoooosh, I hear in my ears.
Snow is flying onto my goggles,
Blurring my vision.
I turn to the left and suddenly…
BAM!
I lose my balance and crash to the ground,
My head hits the soft snow
One, two skis fallen off my feet,
They leave a trail of snow behind me.
Finally, I stop sliding;
I get to my feet,
Slowly, slowly,
Snow drips down my back, as I walk up to my skis,
I quickly return them to my feet,
And take off down the mountain again.
47
- Paul Mavrikes

Horseback Riding
- Allison Leasure
The car ride is long,
I hope we get there quick, and move along.
We pull up to the barn;
The beautiful surroundings resemble a farm.
We tack up our horses…
The weather’s good today
According to our sources.
Jump on to the horse,
And ride in the ring
Making sure you aren’t forgetting the crop.
An hour goes by, and
Time seems to fly.
Now we must say goodbye…
To our horses.
48
- Lara Segrillo

Waiting
- Joe Stucky
My hands started to get wet; my heart started beating faster. I got
butterflies in my stomach, and my body started to tingle as I walked onto
the field.
- Chris Reneberg
A Game Of Baseball
- Matt Hansan
The game begins when the ump
yells,
“Play Ball” from behind his mask
of protection.
The fans roar as the game starts
well.
The teams are playing with
perfection.
The pitchers are getting tired,
While the game is getting tighter.
The flow has slowed
As the end draws nearer.
And after the final out,
The fans begin to shout.
49
1

The Chicken Nugget War
- Brian Kelley
What you don’t know and what they should probably tell you is
never eat food in front of hungry people. Especially good food, like
hamburgers, hotdogs, or even in my case, chicken nuggets. You have no
idea what will happen. Two Fridays ago, it was 5:40 in the afternoon,
and the hot ball was setting. I heard my neighbor’s dog, Lucy, barking
outside in the frigid evening air. I was putting my gear on, ready to leave
the house. My loving, caring, generous, thoughtful, delightful mother
had just prepped up my evening meal.
The swaying aroma of deliciously spiced chicken nuggets filled the
“peninsula of relaxation” that I called home. It was with a heavy heart
that I could not linger with my mother and family while enjoying my
gourmet meal. Instead, I had to set forth on my expedition and eat on the
run like a ravaging wolf.
As my friends arrived into my snow-covered driveway, they alerted
me and the neighborhood with their blaring horn. I learned to always
wear pants over my shorts when I battled the cold and its elements as I
fought my way to their welcoming car. I jumped into the car with my
golden chicken-nugget prize securely in hand. Immediately, I sensed the
unsettling gaze of hungry eyes resting upon my evening meal.
I thought, “Would they attack? Can I hold them off? Can I crush
McFarland? Can McFarland crush me?” He witnessed a hint of lack
of confidence cross my face and went for the nuggets. The Great 2010
Chicken Nugget War began.
I would describe the horror that took place in that 2007 Honda
Accord, but decorum prohibits me. The shear carnage would unsettle
my readers. I will say, though, that the muffled cries emanating from the
Accord were not mine, but the chicken nuggets were.
This leads me to conclude that simple things in life are not simple;
they are big. In life, small things are not small; they are HUGE. If you
leave your warm chicken nuggets on a table for two minutes, when you
come back, you will just see useless crumbs lying around. So never
underestimate how much swagger chicken nuggets require. If you do,
the world will go against you and your chicken nuggets.
50

Race
- Brigid McCaffery
My hands trembled with fear; it was time for my big race. “D-d-ddo
I have to?” I stuttered.
TV Tragedy
- Allison Leasure
What they don’t tell you when you play Wii is that you aren’t
supposed to swing hard. You can look on the box, the manual, or even
the screen. It does not warn you anywhere.
I twirled my fork around my plate and played with my unappetizing
food. My fork made a screeching
sound as I scratched it back and
forth against the plate. All I wanted
was for this long dinner to be
over. I pushed my elbows up onto
the big brown table, and looked
curiously around at the large
paintings of animals that filled
the walls of the cramped room.
- Kyle McKenzie
51
Preston had just gotten the brand
new Wii, and I was very jealous
and was dying to play it. Finally, after a dreadful dinner, we shuffled into
the small kitchen and cleared our plates.
“Who wants to play the Wii?” Preston, who had eaten everything
on his plate, asked. A grin appeared on my face, and excitement built up
inside of me.
“I do!” I shouted excitedly at him. I followed him through the hall
and down the off-white, stained stairs that led into the basement. The
room was filled with toys, and mini-action figures covered every inch
of the discolored carpet. I sat down onto the squishy white couch, and
watched Preston turn on the big, flat-screen TV. Bright colors lit up on
the large screen. I sank down into the couch and grabbed a Wii remote
off of the small coffee table in front of me.
“What do you want to play?” Preston asked me.
“Anything,” I said eagerly.
“How about bowling?” he asked.
“Okay!” I replied with a smile.

“Okay, all you have to do is hold down these buttons, aim, and
bowl!” he said as he tried to instruct me on holding the remote. I grasped
the remote in my hand and practiced my swing. I watched him bowl
a few times, and was determined to beat him. My turn finally came
and I slowly pulled back the remote and swung it forward with great
technique. After trying this a few times, I got the hang of it. Preston
bowled again. We both knew that this was a competition. And I wanted
to be the winner. There were only a few more turns left, so I had to make
this attempt a good one. I quickly swung back the remote and thrust it
forward with power. Smash. The TV went black. Our faces all dropped,
except for my friend who was laughing hysterically at me.
“Look what you did!” Preston shouted angrily at me. I didn’t know
what to say. I was at a loss for words. Then a loud thumping came from
above. It was my uncle pounding down the stairs. He walked towards
us, dodging the mini-Batman figurines. He looked at the TV with a
blank expression.
“Who did this?” he asked.
“Me,” I mumbled softly. “I’m so sorry,” I said, hoping the TV had
insurance. His piercing blue eyes looked directly into mine.
After trying various things to fix the TV, he turned away and walked
back upstairs. We waited in the basement, staring at the large hole in the
TV. I heard him arguing with the person on the other end of the phone
line. He came back into the room and everybody looked up at him.
“I have to buy a new TV,” he announced to everyone. I looked at the
ground. I felt so guilty I wanted to go hide in a corner.
A few days later, my parents gave my uncle the money for a new
TV, because I didn’t have any. After that incident, it occurred to me
that you should wear a wrist strap while
playing the Wii.
- Aaron Briggs
52
Oops!
- Ryan Siegel
As the ball flew in the air, I laughed.
Crash! It went into the window.
“Hahaha,” Sam said as it hit.
Mikey, Max, and I yelled, “Run!” at
the top of our lungs.
As we bolted off laughing, I was
thinking, “This is not going to end well.”

Respect
- Rebecca Mazer
Respecting the rules
Earning trust
Setting a good example
People listening
Entering quietly
Caring for others
Telling the truth
- Paul Mavrikes
Respect
- Brittani Campbell
R is for responsibility.
E is for eligible to learn.
S is for self-confidence, because if you don’t respect yourself you can’t
respect anyone else.
P is for the price you pay.
E is for excellence.
C is for challenging yourself and striving to do better.
T is for taking charge and trying your best.
53
3
Respect
- Blake Priddy
Respect
Expectation
Social
Peace
Experience
Cool
Trust

- Owen Caulfi eld
Open Book
- Scott Bettigole
The open book
Is an amazing look
Into anywhere you want to go
To outer space,
Or where your dog goes to-- without a trace.
Oh, a book can do more than that,
The best time machine around
Anything you have found
Might just be near you.
In, perhaps, a book that is blue
Is everything you have ever thought about,
Especially, snow.
- Owen Caulfi eld
54

Snow!
- Devin Peelman
Snow is on the ground
Outside. It makes no sound.
I go outside, but I fall on my knees
Then I look up and there are no birds on the trees.
It is cold in the snow,
But I don’t care—my snowball is round
When I try to throw, the ball goes slow—
Now I am very cold, and all I can think about is me;
Then I wake up, and it is all a dream.
Painful Skiing
- Amanda Greenberg
Skiing never looked fun to me, Skiing never even interested me;
I was pressured into trying it. You might think you’re being cool, you
might think nothing bad will happen, you might even think you will end
up enjoying yourself, but no matter what the situation is, you should
never do something that you are being pressured into or something you
are uncomfortable with.
“Come on Amanda,” Elle yelled with a bit of annoyance in her voice.
“You need to get over your fear of skiing!” I sighed nervously looking
down at Elle. She wanted me to go down the Green slope, not caring
about the fact that it was my first time skiing.
“Why does the only way to get to the slope have to be such a steep
hill?” I asked.
“Ugh, Amanda, just come down; you won’t fall!” Elle shouted back up.
55
- Matt Peel

I took another deep breath and formed a fist where my poles should
have been. I did not have poles but if I did they would have been useful.
I took one scoot forward and off I went, zooming off of the lift down
the berm. All I could do was bend my knees and pray. I had no idea how
to stop or turn or do much of anything but fly forward. “Slow down!” I
heard Elle yell at me but it was too late. All I thought about was how I
never should have let Elle pressure me into this. I wasn’t ready, I wasn’t
excited, and I didn’t end up enjoying myself.
I instantly collapsed and tumbled down the rest of the hill by
the lift. Snow flew everywhere, including around my face making
my vision unclear. My ankles twisted back with the skis and were
throbbing in pain. “Hahahahahahhahahha!” was all I heard coming
from Elle. When she finally stopped laughing, she watched me struggle
to get up. After a while of struggling, I managed to finally pull myself
up. I thought about Elle’s encouraging words, “You won’t fall. Just
go!” I realized listening to Elle’s words of advice was not my brightest
idea. Yet it was too late to back out now.
We glided to the top edge of the Green slope and I froze. “Oh, no,” I
moaned under my breath. I looked down at the hill, the glistening snow
shined back at me and I noticed how big and steep the slope was. It had
twists, turns, and steep hills within it, an accident waiting to happen.
While laughing, Elle yelled, “Let’s go!” She flew off and I knew there
was no way out of doing this. I took a deep breath and began down the
slope. “HELP ME! AHHHH!” I shrieked in terror, “I CAN’T STOP
ELLE, HELP ME!” I was gliding so fast that I flew right by Elle and all
the other skiers who had started a good amount of time before me. “THIS
IS RIDICULOUS!” I continued to shriek, “SOMEBODY HELP ME!” I
had absolutely no idea how to stop. Elle could not even catch up to me,
but when she eventually did, she tried her best to slow me down.
“PIZZA STOP! PIZZA STOP!!” she cried, “GRAB MY HAND!
I’LL SLOW YOU DOWN!” I reached out my hand but failed to
grasp hers, I was going way too fast. Soon enough the bottom was
approaching. There were many trees and skiers waiting in the ski lift
line. “I CANNOT STOP, ELLE! WHAT DO I DO!” After receiving no
response to my plea for help, I figured I was on my own. I had to think of
a way to save myself, the trees, and the innocent people in my way from
destruction and doom.
Smiling with relief, I finally realized I could just tilt to my right and
fall onto my side to stop. As soon as I was going to fall and stop myself
from getting a major injury, Elle came into the picture. Thinking that she
was going to be the hero, she yelled, “Don’t worry, Amanda, I’ll stop you!”
56

“No!” I shrieked but it was too late. Elle jumped up and tackled me
to a stop. She landed on top of me. One of her skis flew off onto my
foot, and the other dug into my thigh, which then got a huge and painful
bruise. My skis turned back causing my ankles to twist in a very painful
way. “ELLE” I yelled, “GET OFF OF ME! OUCH! GET OFF!”
“I saved you Amanda! You were about to fly into those people and
the trees!” Elle remarked back proud of herself.
“I WAS GOING TO FALL AND STOP ON MY OWN!” I screamed.
All of the people were staring at us. I then thought to myself, “I am never
giving into peer pressure again.”
There Will Come
Snow
- Laura Brundred
There will come snow
With huge white flakes
And you can just let go
Get rid of all your aches
And go play in the snow
Skate on frozen lakes
Or do the tango
But snow is all it takes
57
- Nick Sussman

Christmas
- Matt Peel
Christmas is coming, you can feel
it in the air.
Hustling and bustling, people
going everywhere,
Wrapping presents and filling the
stockings.
Christmas is
soon to be
here.
Kids climb into
beds,
Shake their
heads,
Trying to get
rest
For the day of
the year
They think is
best.
Seasons
- Rob Trone
The snow is white
The flowers are pink
The trees are green
The leaves are orange
The air is cold
The air is fresh
The air is moist
The air is dry
Stealing your warmth
Making you happy
Making you sweet
Giving you strength
58
4
Christmas Presents
- Drew Micholas
Wrapped in paper of many
different styles
And many different colors,
Adorned with bows of various
shapes
And various
colors
Or a decorative
bag
Stuffed with
tissue paper
Addressed to a
certain
person
Held inside,
- Drew Micholas
A secret gift
Which will
be opened on
Christmas day.

Time
- Owen Caulfi eld
Snow melts and flowers rise,
I know seasons change
When warm and cold exchange.
For it is no surprise,
Everything moves on
As previous seasons are left behind.
You cannot rewind
What’s behind you is gone.
Season change again;
It’s time to move on.
Spring, Finally
- OrianaTheo
The snow is melting
The landscape is beginning to free itself
From the hard, icy grip of Winter
There is a new sound in the air
This sound is lively and cheerful
As the world forgets the old, harsh voice of Winter
A new voice is heard
It speaks of birth and warmth
And gently sings to the landscape, until the song of Winter is heard no more
The sun is stronger now, after its wintery sleep
Its dreams of warmth still cling
The sun sends these dreams
To Earth and lets Earth revel in them
The sky now has its true color
Which was stolen by Winter
Now returned it is clear and blue
Not a cloud in the air
But as this song of Spring fades
A new voice is heard
It sings of what is to come next
It sings of
Summer
59

Ladybug
- Oriana Theo
Watch the little lady fly
She wears a coat of dots
I wonder why?
She lands gracefully on a nearby bush
She is small
And full of luck
She crawls daintily to the end of a leaf
And then she takes a daring leap
She spreads those wings
And off she goes!
Where, you ask?
Who knows?
The One-Eyed Cat Peeping In The Seafood Store
- Oriana Theo
There he is once again
Peeping in the seafood store
That selfish little creature, always wanting more
The fishmonger knows what that fellow wants to obtain
But the poor fishmonger’s efforts are all in vain
Because that cat knows there is fish galore
And it is to be found
in that small
seafood store
And when night
comes along,
and the door is
Secured with a chain
The one-eyed thief
makes his move
And in the morning
there is no fish
- Michael Mancuso
anymore
60
- Khalil Osman

The Beach
- Kendall Hay
A day at the beach, what fun I had...
As I sit in the sand, nice and warm to my touch,
I sit there and think about very much.
The light blue waves, just up ahead,
“Look at the waves crashing,” my little sister said.
I go to the water, it’s cold to my feel,
I wait for the water, to come up to my heel.
I go in the waves; it is so much fun,
Then I decide to come out, to lie in the sun.
A day at the beach, what fun I had,
It was time to go, so I was a little mad.
61
- Drew Micholas

Burning Home
- Michael Mancuso
Flint and rock rub together to create new life
Sparks fly and ashes lift to the sky
Sparks fall to the ground on soft grass patches
They spread all around; going forward, never back
Flames slowly move from place to place
Search for new--
Finally finding a home to settle in
The fire explores up and down left and right
Learning about its home
Burning it in the process
The flames leave
Search for a new place to live
Finding a new home again
Looking for somewhere to live
To call a home
The fire one day looked back
At the damage it had done to the world
It knew that in the process of finding its own
It had destroyed the homes of others.
Respect
- Chelsea Widerlite
Respect
Honest and Responsible
Listening, Attending, Trusting
A state of caring
Courtesy
Respect
- Brigid McCaffery
Respect
Positive friends
Caring, learning, listening
Affectionate to other people
Responsibility
62
Respect
- Brian Kelley
Respect
Being helpful
Regarding, understanding, courteous
To really trust someone
Gratitude
Respect
- Brandon Kay
Respect
Helpful, caring
Forgiving, loving, sacrificing
Without respect nobody will like you
Mutual understanding

No Rules
- Kasey Countee
If there were no rules
How would you get
Your education?
If there were no rules
Would there be
Segregation?
If there were no rules
Who would
Rule the nation?
If there were no rules
Would you be stuck in conflict?
Confused.
Out of your mind.
Crazy?
If there were no rules
Would you be able to handle freedom?
What if there were no rules?
63
- Jaclyn Shin

Strength Versus Strength
- Lamonte Armstrong
Working hard
Studying hard
Weights
Pencils
Towel
Paper
Three reps
Three pages
Gym
Classroom
Being strong
Being smart
Athlete
Scholar
64
- Ross Allen

- Justin Briggs
65
Anticipation
- Kendall Buck
My hands were shaking as I sat back in
my seat. I could feel that strange feeling like
butterflies at the bottom of my stomach. Beads of
sweat were appearing on my forehead. I was now
on the edge of my seat, anxious, waiting to see
what would happen next.
Cue
- Rachael Shuster
My legs were shaking as I walked slowly
to the stage. My eyes got wide when I
realized how many people were in the crowd.
“There are a lot of people out there,” I said in
a voice a little shaky as well. I stepped on the
stage, and I froze. Someone whispered to
me my line, and I started to talk.
- Stephen Clement
Exit
- Amanda Greenberg
- Alex Zakrzeski
I froze shaking rapidly. “What do I do?” I
asked uncomfortably. I slowly and steadily walked
off the stage.
‘lone Jazz
- Ian Giles
The world a blur; just me alone
You hear a faint heart beat “ba bum, ba bum”
Then the beat stops and is replaced by a melodious tone
It starts out simple then gets more complex
People sit and listen, lost in the world of the tone
They start to cheer and clap as the tone casts a
joyful hex
The people stare at the instrument that makes
the tone
They see a boy play the instrument; he makes
the tone play
Then it stops; the world becomes clear-- the
tone over as it began
The scene is restored to the Bullis Jazz Cafe
- Sam Greenberg

Pause
- Justin Hoch
Butterflies appeared in my stomach as I was about to sing in front of
the whole school. “One minute,” the conductor shouted out.
Did You Hear That?
- Chelsea Widerlite
Humiliation is the worst thing that could ever happen to you. Well,
so you think. Your head starts pounding, and your hands start shaking
while that one little sweat drop slivers down from your forehead until
your finger quickly wipes the droplet
away. Everyone notices for maybe about
one small minute, but afterwards no one
even cares anymore. Sadly, all you can
think about is, “My life is over! Everyone
is going to think I’m a freak! How could
that have happened?” Now I know that
people overreact with humiliation way too
much. I’m sorry to say, but I do, too.
“Finally, Jane, it’s time for We Are
- Rehan Ghani
Lights,” I exclaimed in a soft whisper, so
the crowd would not hear me. She turned
back and nodded with a smile. We Are Lights was my favorite song to
sing in chorus. I glanced at Mr. Strunk waiting for him to give us the
signal to begin singing. His arms moved swiftly as the pianist played his
first note.
“Here we go. Let’s show this crowd how good we are,” I thought to
myself, taking a deep breath in.
“Click, tick,” my heels went when I tapped my foot down as a
symbol that I was overly ready to sing. Once I started to sing, I loosened
my body and became comfortable on the stage. Taking a look into the
crowd just made me more nervous so I decided to stare down Mr. Strunk,
hoping he wouldn’t notice he was my eye-target for the rest of the song.
“We actually sound really good!” I congratulated myself and kept on
singing strongly.
“We are lights, ligh-ha-ights of memory…,” we sang on and on
sounding beautiful at every note. I took a breath now, because the key
change was about to happen. I always had difficulty with singing the
high part, but I thought I was to going to be all right.
66

“Here it comes,” I warned myself. A strange feeling started to crawl
up my throat like I just swallowed a spider and the eight-legged creature
wanted to get out of my mouth as slowly as possible. I knew exactly
what was going on, but I knew that “it” couldn’t be that loud. Every time
“it” happens no one hears.
“No, no, no! I feel it! Stop! Go away!” I worried to myself
beginning to feel my face become a nice, rosy color. During my
scary thoughts, I began to sing even louder to drown out all of the
insecurities I had at the moment. Little did I know that that was
a horrible idea. Since I was belting like a Broadway diva, I could
obviously hear what had just happened.
“Whoosh!” went every girl’s hair in the alto section when they
quickly turned to give me a deadly stare.
“What should I do? Do I smile like I have no idea what is going on?
Do I just wink so they think I do not care one bit?” I thought to myself
while softly stomping the ground with my huge, black, five-inch heels.
Now I knew that everyone had heard my horrible crack.
“Everything is going to be okay!” I soothed myself.
My humiliation was beyond belief, but since I had training in theater
skills for almost all of my life, I continued to sing. My cherry-red face
slowly crept back to my normal color. I was proud that I didn’t get
discouraged or stop in my tracks. I knew I was going to hear a lot about
“the crack” later, but I kept on going and sang even better and louder. If
I had made a bigger deal of it, more people would’ve noticed and that
would’ve made the humiliation even worse!
The song finally ended and I quickly tip-toed off the risers to the
comfy auditorium chairs. To my surprise no one made fun of me or even
asked me about the “incident.”
I thought to myself, “Oh, no one wants to embarrass me. I think I’ll
be okay.” I kept wondering if people
were going to eventually come up to me
and laugh their big, mean, annoying faces
off. One thing I obviously learned from
this was to not blow a small situation out
of proportion. Since everyone heard—
I soon found out— all of my friends
sympathized and explained they knew
how I felt and told me not to overreact.
All I had to do was forget “it” even
happened and move on, and I will. Well,
until it happens again, of course. - Eliana Roseen
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Observation
- Colton Harrington
When we are in our early middle school
years, a trait most of us lack is observation.
Many parents argue that there are a lot more
important qualities like honesty, integrity,
courage, and dependability, to name a few. But
observation is a very good attribute for a boy to
have. It can save you a lot of hardships in your
life. Have you ever seen someone walk into a
- Brian Bagheri
pole when he was reading something? Not a
good idea to be walking and reading in the first
place, but if that person had been walking observantly, he would have spared
himself a lot of embarrassment. Of course, when I write about this, I speak
of past experiences.
We don’t always think straight when we’re hungry, and even when
we are full, we still have a lot to think about. But after eating some of the
world’s most horrific fried mussels, a person would probably be the least
observant. And of course, while I was dashing towards the nearest toilet,
observation was not on my mind.
As I leaned on the cold, plaster seat, I wasn’t thinking about observation
either. I was just thinking how great it felt to let out my inner Colton, still
heaving with disgust from the insult to the seafood industry. But I’m getting
ahead of myself. You’re probably wondering how I ate a whole plate of fried
mussels without stopping to think about the taste. Once again, observation. I
was sooooo hungry when that plate of fish came, I almost inhaled the whole
dang plate. It took me a couple seconds for the taste to kick in, and suddenly,
I wasn’t very hungry anymore.
I’ve already explained the rest above, so we’ll start from there. As I was
resting, contentedly, I was thinking how awful those mussels were, and how
great it felt to get them out. I heard the door creak open and listened as the
sound of heels resounded on the white tile floor. My breath caught in my
throat. The heels clip-clopped down the row of stalls and stopped right in
front of the door behind which I was hiding. It rattled in its joints as she tried
to open it. A little hmpf escaped her lips somewhere above the heels which I
had now discovered were red.
She moved on to the next stall, discovered it was unlocked, and closed it
behind her. As soon as she was settled in, I cleaned up, fixed my clothes, and
tip-toed out the door. I hoped nobody had seen me, but that hope was dashed
when I saw my grandfather with a huge grin on his face.
Like I said, observation isn’t a quality most of us have at an early age,
but trust me, I am a man of humble experiences. Please, don’t make them
your own. Observation is the best quality you might ever learn.

My Path
- Anya Fasolyak
I’ve had some influences
Some good, some bad
In front of me
Stretches a path
Surrounded by darkness
A gold line runs straight
Through the path
One side is red;
The other white
So I walk right on
The golden line
Hit them, fight back,
Do what you want
The red half says.
Listen, follow rules,
Don’t talk back
The white half counters.
I walk between them
On a golden line
Combining both sides
I don’t know if
I’ll step off the line
Or what half I’ll turn to
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- Caitlin McMahon

Bullis Teamwork
- Joe Novosel
Working together as one unit
Building and cooperating
The need to succeed as a group
Working, constructing, helping all
Collaborate to meet our goals
We Are Bullis
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- Ryan Siegel

Stories Through The Stadium
- Ben Catt
I in-vision victory
I in-vision tears
I in-vision happy faces
I in-vision cheers
A goal, a touchdown, a last-second shot
I can see kids hugging the mascot
Through victory, defeat, rain and sleet
Bullis’s pride will never be beat.
Many stories will be told forever.
When you represent Bullis, you never say never
If you’re up or down 100 hundred points
Or you’ve broken every joint
I hear coaches say, “Keep your heads held high,”
Even as the kids begin to cry.
The vision ends and
I see a regular turf field,
But in each stand
A memory is sealed.
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- Ben Brown

- Lamonte Armstrong
Unity
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Unity
- Rashaad Wise
Unity is more than a thing
It is like a king
Sitting on this throne
In different places like a rolling stone.
Unity
Unity is a state of mind
It doesn’t matter if you’re cruel or kind
As long as there is somebody with you
in your heart
You will always be united even if you’re
apart.

Our Battle Cry
- Jack Chellman
A single bond,
A harmony,
God granted this
So we’d agree,
That two by two
Upon the ark,
And only one
Should then embark,
All humans know
Deep down inside
That something draws us
Side by side,
Why then do we
Feel all alone?
All huddled in,
Our earthly home?
When helping hands
Dare to extend,
We run in fear
From happy ends,
It seems that we
Are bound to stay
In loneliness
Throughout our days,
We ought to know
This battle cry:
While friendship lives,
Our troubles die.
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- Colton Harrington

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- Nick Sussman

Lamonte Armstrong
Daniel Ayre
Eleni Baker
Brett Barrera
Jane Beightol
Lyneé Belton
Alec Bertero
Scott Bettigole
Sandrita Borckardt
Aaron Briggs
Justin Briggs
Laura Brundred
Kendall Buck
Brittani Campbell
Ben Catt
Owen Caulfield
Jack Chellman
Adam Cohen
Kasey Countee
Anya Fasolyak
Zach Fingerhut
Morgan Foery
Melanie Friedlander
Ian Giles
Amanda Greenberg
Matt Hansan
Colton Harrington
Kendall Hay
Kevin Heymann
Justin Hoch
Tyamonee Johnson
List Of Contributors By Grade
Eighth Grade
Brandon Kay
Brian Kelley
Allison Leasure
Greg Lovegrove
Michael Manscuso
Paul Mavrikes
Rebecca Mazer
Brigid McCaffery
Caitlin McMahon
Alessandra Mejia
Drew Micholas
Joe Novosel
Melissa Palmer
Matt Peel
Devin Peelman
Blake Priddy
Alex Robinson
Tyler Rock
Paulina Rubin
Nebe Samuel
Rachael Shuster
Ryan Siegel
Carly Steren
Joe Stucky
Nick Sussman
Calista Tavallali
Oriana Theo
Rob Trone
Chelsea Widerlite
Rashaad Wise
75
Seventh Grade
Ross Allen
Brian Bagheri
Ben Brown
Mollie Carroll
Stephen Clement
Jordan Czerwiec
Jamaal David
Olivia De Pandi
Sasha Frye
Rehan Ghani
Sam Greenberg
Lauren Halle
Taylor Hoffman
Bruce Jansa
Leo Kelly
Kathryn Kunkle
Dariah Manesh
Kyle McKenzie
Sonam Mehndiratta
Khalil Osman
Chris Reneberg
Eliana Roseen
Lara Segrillo
Jaclyn Shin
Alex Zakrzeski
Monica Zuckerman

Special Thanks
To
Ms. Gerharz
Ms. Gillett
Mr. Lloyd
Mr. Marusak
Mr. Pomeroy
Ms. Schurdak
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