What is value? Everyone has a different definition, one of their own. To me value can have a price tag but it can be the memories, ideas, dreams, wishes, or even hopes. There are two things in my life I value the most my Alex and Ani best friend charm and endless time in the summer on the river.

I will start with the priceless idem, endless time in the summer on the river with my best friend by my side. Every morning I awaken bright and early. I fix a small drawstring bag with a freshly washed beach towel that smells like flowers. I add my phone charger and my pillow pet. I leave the house on my out of the box new bright red bike. The tires spin under me for a mile and a half. I meet my friend karley at the ski club.

We have a shack. Made out of wood with six flaps that allow a clear view to the boats floating along the clean water. We uncover each boat carefully making sure not to fall in between the boat and dock. Once the job is done we sprint back up to the shack and open every window along the side. We then lay on the shining counter in with the sun shining down apon us. During the rest of the day we either go swimming, tubing,water skiing, or up river to PIP (our favorite island).

The priced item in my life means the world to me. It symbolizes every day spent on the river, every secret shared with my best friend karley. This item is a silver best friend Alex and Ani. I have the friend side and karley has the best side. The silver fits perfectly around my wrist. Dangling from it is a half heart charm.

This bracelet is charged for 30 dollars at the Holyoke mall. But it holds so much more than the medal the best thing it holds is the memory's, secrets, and 14 years of friendship inside the small charm. This makes the bracelet worth 100 dollars rather than thirty.

 My two items are similar but very different. They are similar in the idea of who they conect with (karley) and they both bring memories rushing back. Yet they are different. One is an idea or a moment you cannot touch or hold in your hand. The other is a thing you wear on your wrist and can hold.

      Everything can be classified as priced or priceless. Experiences with things make them way more valuable. Anyone could pick up a pencil at the store for 25 cents, how you make use of it is what is more important. I value mostly everything in my life in one way or another.

Pearl Essay

What is value? Everyone has a different definition, one of their own. To me value can have a price tag but it can be the memories, ideas, dreams, wishes, or even hopes. There are two things in my life I value the most my Alex and Ani best friend charm and endless time in the summer on the river.

I will start with the priceless idem, endless time in the summer on the river with my best friend by my side. Every morning I awaken bright and early. I fix a small drawstring bag with a freshly washed beach towel that smells like flowers. I add my phone charger and my pillow pet. I leave the house on my out of the box new bright red bike. The tires spin under me for a mile and a half. I meet my friend karley at the ski club.

We have a shack. Made out of wood with six flaps that allow a clear view to the boats floating along the clean water. We uncover each boat carefully making sure not to fall in between the boat and dock. Once the job is done we sprint back up to the shack and open every window along the side. We then lay on the shining counter in with the sun shining down apon us. During the rest of the day we either go swimming, tubing,water skiing, or up river to PIP (our favorite island).

The priced item in my life means the world to me. It symbolizes every day spent on the river, every secret shared with my best friend karley. This item is a silver best friend Alex and Ani. I have the friend side and karley has the best side. The silver fits perfectly around my wrist. Dangling from it is a half heart charm.

This bracelet is charged for 30 dollars at the Holyoke mall. But it holds so much more than the medal the best thing it holds is the memory's, secrets, and 14 years of friendship inside the small charm. This makes the bracelet worth 100 dollars rather than thirty.

      Everything can be classified as priced or priceless. Experiences with things make them way more valuable. Anyone could pick up a pencil at the store for 25 cents, how you make use of it is what is more important. I value mostly everything in my life in one way or another.

     There are many things I own that could be priced for example all of my clothing, my piano, my phone, my favorite sweatshirt, and my makeup this list could go on continuously. There also many memories I have that to me are absolutely priceless seeing my friends both the entire eighth grade and my two best friends who are more like family to me Carl and Kelsey, spending time on the river, or the endless fun at hockey tournaments.

       The priced things in my life defiantly are very important to me. My electric piano can be priced for about $345. Though it can be priced for this it was the first thing I learned to play piano on. It holds every sad song from when I am feeling down and every happy upbeat song I would play when I am having fun with my friends in its keys. Even with holding all of this it can surly still be priced.

       My phone (Iphone 5) could be priced for approximately $250. Once again my phone puts a huge impact on my life. It holds my events. It is the only way at the moment to talk to most of my friends during the week. It holds my music, my pictures. All social media twitter, facebook, instagram, snapchat. Though it means all of this it can still be priced.

       My favorite sweatshirt could be priced for exactly $35 dollars. It is a royal blue National Junior Honor Society sweatshirt I got last year at the upcoming students ceremony. My friend Olivia Cyr and I both got them the same day with one thing in mind… getting the sweatshirt big so it would be comfy. The sweatshirt does remind me of 7^th grade more than anything else.

       The priceless things in my life defiantly mean the most to me even though the priced things mean a lot they cannot beat the value of the priceless. Most kids haven’t nearly gone through what I have meaning skipping a grade due to being allergic to the school. With all of this the most precious memory I have would be growing up with the amazing class of 2018. We had gone through ups and downs. Having the more fun then I thought possible.

        The next most priceless thing in my life is all the memories I have with two best friends Kelsey and Carl. First is my friend Kelsey she is a year, a month, 2 weeks, and one day younger than me. I can clearly remember our first sleepover. Since she lives three hours away we barely see each we had this idea… the longer we stay up the longer we get to hang out. That was completely true except she had a hockey playoff game the next morning and we didn’t sleep at all. That game didn’t turn out very well for her team. Another person is my friend Carl. Carl is literally like my older brother. He is always there for me and I can always turn to him. The memory I love is the party that was held at his house (about an hour away). The only reason I went was so my brother could see Carl’s younger brother Brian and at the time I was in fifth grade much to young to be left at home for multiple hours.  Before the party we didn’t know each other existed. By the time my parents said it was time to leave we were inseparable. Ever since that night we have been the best of friends. Both of these amazing people lead to many memories that could never be priced.

       My final priceless memory I am going to share is the crazy hockey tornements. Every weekend my family is usually in a different state at a hockey tornement mostly in the winter and summer. I can clearly remember our schedule. First we check into the hotel with our own families and put our suitcases in our rooms. I would meet Carl and Josh in the lobby and we all hang out there until Kelsey gets there. The second Kelsey walks through the door we find the best places to hang out usually by the pool. Once this is done we are always in this designated spot, unless it is time to go to the rink or eat food. These weekends mean the world to me mainly because Kelsey and Carl at the moment are the only people I tell anything and its really all around a fun packed weekend.

        

 SPEAK FINNAL

One time my inner consciousness and my thoughts and actions severally differed was when I decided to play U14 soccer and JV high school soccer. To myself I thought it would be a great opportunity and way to get better at soccer, which it was. Though my consciousness told me it definitely was not a good idea it could endanger both teams. If the U14 team was to go into the playoffs (which we now are on Saturday morning) and an official found out that I am in the high school registered as a freshman and playing JV they could take away any placing we have so far and the rights to compete in the playoffs. If this were to occur I would have let down both teams taking away their rankings they made throughout the year. This didn’t really change my decision because I know that we could prove that it was okay to do knowing medical papers moved me up to the ninth grade and that I am 14 so technically with showing all documentation they cannot completely take any placing away. I did choose to play both teams and completed the JV season and am moving into U14 playoffs this weekend in Gateway. This is just one of many times my words and actions disagreed with each other.

             One time my inner and outer voice, were in harmony was when I decided to spend my whole summer at the river. In my head I thought of all the fun times that I had the year before with all of my friends. Between tubing, water skiing, wakeboarding, Tarzan swings, and boat rides personally I had the most fun ever with all of that the year before (only being there one or two days darning the whole summer). Knowing that and the fact that I could spend everyday with my best friend I loved the idea. I was completely right with my decision and it was way more fun then watching movies at each other’s house and swimming in neighbors pools. Unfortunately the most recent summer we had was not too great for the river because it flooded multiple times and dockside (friend owns) burning down practically ruined the summer.  We do plan to do it every summer because of the amount of fun we had. Personally I think that I did make the right decision not only did I have fun but also I grew closer to my best friend.

One time Melinda’s inner and outer voice were in harmony was when she was in the closet drawing the trees.  Evidence to this is when in the book when Mr. Neck find her in the closet freaking out. I think that this is a very good example because on the inside throughout the whole story she was flipping out inside her head. Then this was the first big time she expressed her feelings even though they were meant to be for herself in her secret place (the closet). Also this is the first time somebody really saw the real melinda.

                     COULD YOU PASS THE TEST?

Quarter 1 – Outside Reading

The Mysterious Benedict Society, Trenton Lee Stewart, Little Brown & Company, March 2007

        This story was about an orphan named Reynie Muldoon. He is too smart for normal high school classes so the orphanage got him a tutor. Reynie had a specific way of doing things in the morning. First he would wake up and make tea. By the time the tea was ready his tutor would be sitting at the table with two morning papers to read. The two would sit in the kitchen discussing the morning paper because there seemed to be nothing else to teach Reynie. One morning an add in the paper caught Reynies attention. The add seemed to be addressing children and not their parents. The add stated: “ ARE YOU A GIRTED CHILD LOOKING FOR SPECIAL OPPERTUNITES?” This question leads Reynie to a series of tests both mental and physical till there where three children left. Reynie was one; he had the talent of solving puzzles. Kate, the girl with all ability to any physical challenge. And finally Sticky a very intelligent boy. Throughout the story the three become best friends and face many challenges together.

       Fun, mysterious and suspensful. I loved it. Will definitely read the rest of the series. Cant wait to read them.

Published 29 days ago by Pen Name

       I found this book very hard to get into. The writer wrote in such a way you had to push yourself to keep reading. Though once I got into the book it was very exciting. I do not think I would read any other books from this author because of the issue of getting into the book. Also I am not a very big fan of reading and I found the story almost as if never ending.  In the book the author said: “ The door slid open. The children dashed through. They found themselves in a warm, bright room that smelled heavily of newsprint and ink.”

       I found I couldn’t really relate as well to the characters as had hoped I would have. This also made the book very difficult to complete. Over all I do not think this book was for me. I would rate this book 3 paws because this book may have not been as exciting for me as other people and I do think that other people would like this story.

       The five words I chose to describe Melinda are helpless, hopeless, unhappy, lonely, and miserable. Helpless fits her description because she does not have anyone to turn to. She can’t talk to anyone about her issues because she is afraid to open up. Melinda is hopeless because she doesn’t have anything left for her. She basically gave up. Melinda is unhappy because she lost all of her friends. She is also unhappy because she is blamed for calling the police at a party over the summer. Melinda is lonely because she does not have many friends. She doesn’t talk to her parents about anything they mainly communicate through notes. Melinda is miserable because again she is lonely and miserable. She also is failing most classes and has a very low GPA.

       I find the best word to describe Melinda is miserable. This is because she doesn’t have friends. She lacks communication with her family and teachers. She gets in trouble a lot. She escapes to the janitors closet to take a break from the world. And lastly she is afraid to open up to anyone.

       Examples from the book are: “… This is the death voice, the voice that means business…” “…You mean we are not friends anymore?” “… You can’t eat lunch with me anymore…” “…Evil kids pointing at me…”

       These are all good examples of why I think Melinda is miserable. I think she will open up to someone soon in the story because she is desperately in need of help. I think she needs to talk to somebody.

Summer Reading Essay!

          Safe Haven, Nicholas Sparks

         Characters: Katie, Alex, Josh, Kristen

         The Truth About Forever, Sarah Dessen

         Characters: Auden

     Katie was going to the local store to pick up the bright yellow paint she had ordered days before. It was a hot summer morning. Her short blond hair blew in the wind as she walked out of the forested neighborhood that she now called home. Katie walked into the store and was quickly greeted by Alex the widowed storeowner.

          "Hi Katie, are you looking for anything specific?"

         "I'm just here to pick up the yellow paint I ordered."

         "Oh yes! That just came in. I'll be right back I just have to get that from the back room." Alex disappeared into a dark doorway in the back of the store.

         Not only did Alex come back with the paint, he also came out with beach items, and his two children Josh and Kristen. 

         "SUPRISE!" The children yelled in unison. 

         "What’s going on?" Katie curiously asked.

         “We are bringing you to the beach Katie!” Kristen quickly stated.

        

         The four of them carried everything out to the red jeep and piled in the car. They began to drive out of the small town and a little further down the coast.

        

        

        

        

         **********************************************

         About an half an hour later they pulled up to a beach. The beach looked beautiful, the waves were very large, and the water was crystal clear. There also was a boardwalk made of stone.

         “Katie, I almost forgot you don’t have your bathing suit!” Stated Alex. He pulled a crisp twenty-dollar bill from his pocket and handed it to Katie.

         “You and Kristen go across the street to the store right there, we will set up a spot and meet you in the water.” Alex said to Katie. Without saying a word Kristen pulled Katie across the street.

         The girls walked into the store. Inside it was small. Bathing suits hung in the back of the store. They had a variety of jeans, shirts, cover-ups, flip-flops, and perfumes. The girls started to the back of the store.

        

         As the girls reached the bathing suits a tall girl stepped behind them.

         “Hi, my name is Auden is there anything I can help you find today?”
         “Actually yes there is! I am looking for a bathing suit to wear today on the beach.” Stated Katie. With that Auden started riffling through the bathing suits. Katie looked on the clearance rack behind her.

         “Are you from around here or are you just visiting?” Auden asked curiously.

         “ We are from South Port. About a half an hour away from here. How about you?” Katie replied quickly.

         “ I’m from Massachusetts, when I heard my step mom was having a baby I decided it was a good idea to spend my last summer before college helping out…”

         “That’s cool! I think I will take this one” Katie said as she pulled out a pink bikini with white ruffles on the top.

“Good choice! Follow me and I will ring you out.”

Katie quickly followed not wanting the boys to have to wait any longer.

         Katie and Kristen walked out of the store and crossed the street to the beach. Both girls got changed in the bathroom. Then they walked along the beach as their feet touched the hot sand. The girls soon reached the frigid water and walked out to Josh and Alex.

         ************************************************

         Katie and Alex left the kids in the water boogie boarding the waves. They started to walk towards the boardwalk.

         “Are you having fun?” Alex curiously asked Katie.

          “Of course I am! Nothing could be better then being with you!” Katie joyfully responded back.

         Their feet touched the cool gray rocks and they walked along the boardwalk. They walked silently holding hands. The sun was slowly setting. Josh and Kristen got out of the water and walked up the boardwalk to Alex and Katie.

         “Are you kids ready to go?” Alex asked.

         “Yes!” Josh replied.

         Everyone gathered their things and started for the car. They reached the car and put all of their belongings in the back. The kids jumped over the tires into the jeep. Katie and Alex both got in the car. Alex started driving back home. The kids instantly fell asleep after a long few hours at the beach.