Courtney Huston
Courtney is going into her junior year and is heavily involved with theatre and lacrosse, for which she is goalie. When she acts, she usually specializes in comedy or Shakespeare. She really loves social outreach programs and working with the homeless.
Lyla threw her pencil down in frustration. She had been working on the same math problem for almost twenty minutes, and she still couldn’t solve it. She went downstairs to get a drink of water, but was interrupted by the ringing of a doorbell. What day was it? Wednesday. That meant Lyla had theatre class today. She quickly got her stuff together in a bag and left. She carpooled with her neighbor and good friend, Stella. As they pulled up to the church where they practiced, Lyla asked Stella what they were doing today. “I’m not sure,” said Stella.
They went to the room with the stage, where their teacher told them that they were doing skits that day. Lyla and Stella got in a group with three of their other friends in the class, and spent the next half an hour coming up with a very funny skit to present to their classmates. Their skit involved lots of hilarious lines, very unique and colorful props, and it was lots of fun to create overall.
They all presented their skit, all the kids laughed, and their teacher said they did a great job. When Lyla came home she was really happy, and because she wasn’t in a frustrated mood anymore, she could focus and finish her math homework. She was very happy that she had creative activities like theatre to help her relax and feel better.
Will Draper
Will Draper is a twelve year old who plays baseball and football. He plays for 3 baseball teams and one football team. He likes to read and spend time outside.
It was the big day. Alfie’s chance to help his football team, the Speed Demons, shine. Alfie was the wide receiver, and he had been training for 3 hours every day for this day. Today was the day that the Speed Demons played against the Panthers for the state finals.
As the Speed Demons entered the arena, Alfie could already feel his palms getting sweaty with anxiety. The Panthers had won the finals four years in a row! Almost 300 people cheered them on in the huge bleachers. Alfie was ready. The coin was tossed, and the Speed Demons started with possession of the ball. Alfie was ready for kick off. Once Alfie caught it, his instincts took over for the rest of the game.
Alfie ran past the first line of defenders, but was tackled at the 40. 1st down. Their quarterback throws it down the field but Jonny, their other wide receiver, couldn’t catch it. 2nd down.
A short pass to Sean, the team’s tight end, and they were able to get to the 55, with 45 more yards to go. 3rd Down.
The ball is passed to Alfie, but the ball was knocked out of his hands. FUMBLE!! Alfie threw himself to the ground to get the ball but Alfie saw Panther jerseys close to the touchdown zone. Alfie ran as fast as he could but saw the referee signal a touchdown. Afterwards, the Panthers scored their 1 point field goal.
Halftime was over, and it was time that the two teams got down to business. It was at the beginning of the 4th quarter when the score was 7-0, then the Speed Demons scored a touchdown. The crowd applauded and cheered. The Speed Demons decided to go for a 2 point conversion so they could take the lead. “HIKE” the play had started, Alfie ran into the touchdown zone and caught the ball when it was passed to him. The crowd went wild, the Speed Demons had got the lead and the score was 8-7.
At the end of the 4th Quarter, with 30 seconds remaining, the ball was in Panther hands at the 40. The Panthers throw the ball to their receiver and get 30 yards. With now 5 seconds remaining, the Panthers decided to go for an easy field goal kick to take the victory. Everyone lines up, and the center yells “HIKE” and the ball gets kicked towards the field goal.
In this moment, everything seems to be going in slow motion. Alfie jumps and blocks the incoming football, and before anyone can react, the game ends at a score of Speed Demons 8 to Panthers 7. All of Alfie’s teammates come running towards him and congratulate him for the awesome block. It was the first time that the Speed Demons had won the state finals. At this moment, Alfie was so proud to be involved with this youth program.
Ishan Vig
Ishan helps in the community by keeping school safe as a Safety Patroller. He once helped package food for kids in Africa that don’t have anything to eat. His passions are playing soccer, basketball, and football.
Ravi came home from school. He had no homework, so he ran upstairs and brought down one of his favorite books, a collection of stories about the Indian God, Lord Ganesha, Lord of intellect and the higher knowledge. Lord Ganesha was Ravi’s favorite, because of his cleverness and intelligence. Ravi flipped through the book, until he came to his favorite story of all time, the great race between Ganesha and his brother, Kartikya.
The two brother were having an argument as to who was the elder of the two. They just couldn’t decide, so they went and asked their father, Lord Shiva. Shiva decided that whoever could go around the whole world and come back first to the starting point was the older one. Kartikya flew off at once on his peacock, leaving Ganesha behind. But the wise Ganesha simply walked over to his parents, and walked one circle around them. He then went to his father and asked for the prize of his victory.
His father said, “Oh loving and wise Ganesha! How can I give you the prize; you did not go around the world?”
Ganesha replied, “No, but I have gone around my parents. To me, you are my world.” And so, Ganesha won the race and was thereafter acknowledged as the elder of the two brothers.
As Ravi finished reading, he went outside to play with his friends. They played soccer, and while they played Ravi kept in mind the religious story he had just read, and hoped to one day be as witty and clever as Ganesha.
Tanvi Shah
Tanvi loves to read, travel to new places and her passion is art. She doesn’t like litter so whenever she sees any at her school or in her neighborhood she picks it up.
Tara checked the time on her clock. 3:00 in the afternoon and she had already finished her homework! When she walked downstairs her mom was surprised she was done already, so she asked her, “You are done already? That was fast!”
Tara replied saying “Well I focused and made sure I did it properly. But now I’m bored, I don’t have anything to do!” Her mom suggested they did something fun together. They decided to go and take a walk.
Outside the weather was perfect. The air was warm, there were birds flying everywhere, and it was nice and quiet. As Tara and her mom started to walk, she realized that just being outside made her feel ten times better. While walking they talked about many things, including Tara’s school, art, and dance. They walked around her neighborhood, past flower filled gardens, kids riding their bikes, and neighbors walking their dogs. When Tara got back home it was 5:00. She had been outside for almost one and a half hours!
After that, Tara’s dad came home so they all played Frisbee outside. After a little bit it started to get dark outside, so Tara and her family went inside, ate dinner and went to bed.
Tara realized that it’s important that when you have free time at home, you should spend it with your family, doing things that you like to do. Like taking walks or playing a game.