Ryan and Tristan Alexander
Ryan and Tristan are two brothers who enjoy Minecraft and building LEGOs. Both love to play games and hang out with friends. They train in Tae Kwon Do and enjoy raising money, collecting goods and other items for those in need.
Ricky is a five-year-old boy who loves riding his bike. He always likes to ride around the neighborhood with his older brother and his family.
There’s one problem, he has training wheels. He feels this is a problem because all his friends and family have two wheels. As a result they ride way faster than him. So Ricky decides to change this by learning to ride with just two wheels! It is hard at first. His dad took off the wheels and Ricky could barely balance on the bike, let alone ride it! He fell down often and got many scrapes and bruises. His mom was very supportive and helpful, and put a Band-Aid on his cuts.
His older brother, Kian, was his main teacher. He showed him how to easily balance and get on and off the bike. Kian would hold the back of the bike seat and help Ricky balance as he rode the bike. One day he was doing that and Ricky went really fast and started going really far. He looked back at Kian. Instead of being right behind him Kian was really far away. Ricky soon realized that he rode all that distance by himself!
After doing a few rounds around the block he ran into the house screaming, “MOM! DAD! I did it!” His family was so proud of him and Ricky was so thankful that they supported him through this fun experience.
Sonali Joshi
Sonali is a 14 year old who loves to draw, do karate, and be outside (not be stuck in a building all day!).
Sophie is a chipmunk who has a family just like you and I. She lives with her mom Cindy, her dad Joe, her two brothers Jack and Shawn. Sophie was very different from her siblings. She often daydreamed and talked to herself. She was also the smallest one in her family so she was made fun of by her brothers. Sophie was also very clumsy and hurt herself a lot, but her siblings would never care to ask if she was okay. That was how her family usually was... her brothers never really talked to her.
One day Sophie’s mom told her siblings to go look for acorns and Sophie followed along to help. Her brothers never followed directions and instead of gathering acorns they started throwing them at each other. Sophie wanted this to be her chance to prove something to her family, that even though she was small she could still get work done. Sophie began searching for the perfect acorn to bring back to her parents.
Finally she spotted it on a branch of the tallest tree in the forest. Her parents forbade her from climbing it because she could seriously injure herself. Sophie looked back to make sure her siblings were not watching and continued. She had reached the tip of the branch and the acorn was within her arms reach when she heard a cracking noise. She thought this was the end. What she didn’t know was that Jack and Shawn had heard the cracking noise and rushed over to the tree.
The branch broke and Sophie started falling. Seconds before she was going to crash into the ground Jack caught her. Her brothers brought her back home. They explained to their parents what had happened. No one was upset. She thought that her siblings would never care if she was in danger but she was wrong. It was then that she realized that no matter what happened her brothers would always be there for her. She realized the value of family.
Morgan Pettersson
Morgan loves design and has been doing art ever since she was a little girl.
“Sweet Dreams, Nora.” Nora’s nanny, Lilly, kissed her on the head, shut the light off, and left Nora’s room. Lilly was like Nora’s mom, and really loved her. Nora’s parents were always going on business trips, so Lilly took care of her while they were gone.
Nora thought of all the things Lilly would do for her. She would make her breakfast, lunch and dinner, drive her to school, and help her with homework. She would kiss her every night when she went to sleep, and give her a big hug when she came home from school.
That night, Nora decided that she wanted to be just as smart, caring, and loving as Lilly was. She then fell into a deep sleep, waiting for Lilly to wake her up the next day.
“Wake up, Nora! Today is Saturday!” Lilly said. Nora was excited. Saturdays were the days her and Lilly spent the whole day together. Lilly made her a heart shaped bagel for breakfast, and soon they both went out. They went to the park, and Nora saw a homeless man waiting at the entrance. Lilly always gave homeless people money, so Nora put three dollars into his hat.
Nora smiled at Lilly and the two continued walking. They played lots of games in the park like tag, catch, and Frisbee. They got really tired so Lilly and Nora decided to walk down to the fountain and rest there. When they got to the fountain Lilly handed her a brown paper sack. Inside was Nora’s lunch: A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a bag of almonds, an apple, and for desert she packed homemade cookies!
As they sat on the edge of the fountain eating their lunch, Lilly turned towards Nora. “I am very proud of you for giving three dollars of your own money to that homeless man by the entrance!” she said. “I did it because I’ve seen you do it so many times, and I want to be just like you!” Nora replied.
Lilly then gave Nora a really big hug. She couldn’t wait for next Saturday.
Isha Kshirsagar
Isha is a 13 year old going into freshman year. Her hobbies and passions include dancing, swimming, painting, reading, writing, traveling, and hanging out with her friends.
Horror struck through Alia’s mind. It was cancer, the doctors had confirmed it. Her mother had been in the hospital for three weeks now, and so had Alia. She had gotten barely any sleep for three weeks and she was feeling tired, hungry, and very stressed out.
Suddenly, two shadows appeared behind the white screen door. Just as Alia began wondering who it could possibly be, the door opened. An old couple walked through the door, bringing food and some clothes with them. They were her neighbors, and very close friends to her mother.
“We came to give you our comforts. We brought you some snacks, Alia, a change of clothes that were lying around in our house, and some other things that would come in use.”
Alia couldn’t be any more thankful than she already was, until the old lady pulled out an envelope from her purse. “On behalf of the whole neighborhood, my husband and I held a garage sale to raise money for you and your mom. Go on now, take it dear, it is all for you. We’re also open to help you with anything you need, Alia, and you are welcome to stay with us anytime you want too.”
And for the next few weeks, Alia couldn’t get enough “thank yous” to everybody who helped her. The neighbors came by every two or three days to check up on her mother. Soon, Alia’s mother was moving quickly on the road to recovery, and the two were finally able to come back home.
They were surprised to see their house fully cleaned, and food left in the fridge for them to eat. The neighbors often came by to help Alia and her mother with daily household chores. Alia was more than grateful for all the support she had been getting these past few weeks, and she didn’t know what she would do without all her caring neighbors.
Andrea Tang
Andrea takes art in school and likes to help out at camps or at small booths. She also likes to listen to music and do artistic things. Her favorite sports are rock climbing and track. Her favorite colors are orange and purple.
Before stepping out the door something caught Josh’s eye. His old skateboard was leaning against the bookshelf. He missed skateboarding but unfortunately he had recently met with an accident at a skateboarding competition. Now Josh was temporarily stuck in a wheelchair but he decided that nothing would get in his way. However, he didn’t expect his biggest challenge to be fitting through the school door.
When Josh’s school was built, the builders didn’t think a person with disabilities might go to this school. He didn’t find himself much different compared to other people other than that he sat in a bulky wheelchair. Otherwise he was always treated the same by family members and friends.
The school created a ramp just for him, so that he didn’t have to go around the school and go through the back door. They built bigger doors for people of all sizes and shapes. People would open doors for each other and help Josh reach for things that were too high. Yet he still had his independence. He would hang out with his friends at the lunch table and use the same materials as any other kid. He still had gym class and attended assemblies even though he would occasionally arrive late due to the fact that he had to use the elevator to get to the gym.
Josh loved middle school and appreciated that no one treated him any differently than others. It inspired him to help other kids with disabilities. Occasionally he would need help too, but only with small things. Schools lend helping hands to all students no matter how different they are because as long as they are helping, they are happy.
Emma Reishman
Emma is an 11 year old who loves soccer, basketball, gymnastics, and acting. She considers herself a very funny and nice person.
Amy O’Hara sits in her second grade classroom, staring up at the clock. It was 1:30, which meant it was time for science! Amy’s class was learning all about the ocean.
The teacher came up to the front of the room and announced to everyone, “Okay kids, today is a very special day. We get to learn about underwater fossils! We even have some real fossils here with us in the classroom today. Because these are very fragile, I need you all to be extra careful. Also, we have a special guest who is here to help us, Amy’s mom, Mrs. O’Hara!” Amy gasped in surprise.
She didn’t know her mom was volunteering in class today! The class divided into groups that went into different stations, where they learned what a fossil is and how it is made. Amy went from station to station, filling out her worksheet eagerly. She did all the drawings, finished writing the definitions, and completed the matching parts. But when she got to the fill-in-the-blank portion of the worksheet, Amy had no idea what to do!
Her mom could see Amy’s confusion, so she came over and said, “Amy, it looks like you could use some help.” Amy nodded her head, and for the next few minutes Amy and her mom sat and worked on finishing the fossils worksheet. By the end of class they had finished the worksheet, and Amy was really grateful that her mom was involved with her school and learning, so that she could help Amy learn more.