Trey Johnson
Trey is in fourth grade and is nine years old. He loves to do art and believes in helping others do well in school.
Anton and Blake loved school, and more importantly, they loved to learn. Because of this, the two friends always made sure that they were learning as much as possible. They always listened to the teacher and asked questions when they didn’t understand something. It wasn’t just that they liked their school, everyone at school like them too because they were always kind to everyone, and gave their teachers the respect that they deserved.
One day, Anton and Blake were riding their bikes to school. While riding, they passed by a brand new arcade. The flashing lights and blinking games were too much to resist. Blake stopped and said “What if we skipped school and went to the arcade? Anton was very tempted to go and play, but the local chief of police would be speaking at school that day and he didn’t want to miss it.
“Blake, school is important, we can’t just skip school because we feel like it! School helps us learn respect and safety. We learn to be responsible, and it helps us so much!” Anton said.
“So what? It’s just one day,” Blake scoffed.
Anton’s determination came flooding back “We need to go to school if we want to learn, Blake! We can’t just skip out on the hard work and expect it to not affect us!” At some point during Anton’s rant, Blake’s enthusiasm had completely deflated, and his dark blue eyes looked down, ashamed. “I guess you’re right. I still want to go to the arcade though.”
Anton smiled and the two boys decided to have fun at the arcade after school. They realized that because they were motivated to learn, they made the right choices.
Vivek Dutta
Vivek Dutta is thirteen years old and his hobbies include playing soccer and video games. He loves to help his community and believes young people have the potential to change the world.
One day, a young boy named Jack was taking a walk with his father in the woods. As they were strolling through the scenery, the boy suddenly asked his father, “Why are trees green? Why not pink or blue or any other color?”
The father replied back, “Son, that is a great question. The leaves of a tree are filled with a chemical called chlorophyll, which is used by plants to get their food. The sunlight absorbs all colors except green, so our eyes see it as green.” Although this was at first incredibly challenging for the young child to grasp, it was a trigger pulled for his curious mind. He was now very interested.
That night, Jack went home and secretly opened up his father’s computer to research about plants. Jack began to learn more and more about how plants function and what really makes them look green. His father’s answer was indeed correct, but he could now truly understand how it all made sense!
But Jack did not stop there. His research led him to ask many more questions, so he was motivated to continue learning. He spent a lot of time with his chemistry teacher, asking questions and learning about the world of chemistry. He soon realized that he had a great interest and liking towards the study of chemistry.
His passion led him to much success in the future. At school, teachers were flabbergasted with Jack’s learning tenacity as he aced every chemistry exam. It wasn’t long before one day his father enrolled him in a chemistry camp. Here, Jack could experiment and study different elements, and unlocked secrets he never even thought could be true. Other kids around him learned from him and strived to do the same. Using chemistry as a guideline to taking interest in academics, the fun educational environment and inspirations from elders are what motivated Jack, and soon many others, to go far in life.
Moa Valentin
Moa is in Girl Scouts. She helps the community with her Girl Scouts troop. She likes to sing, play the piano, tennis, dance, and to help her teacher.
“Homework is the equivalent of rain in the summer.” Fatima tried to explain to her less than receptive mother as her mom simply stared at her, clearly annoyed. “It’s like getting a shot at the doctor office. It’s a hot pizza burn on the roof of your mouth! Homework is the exact opposite of everything that Batman stands for!”
At that, Fatima’s mother rolled her eyes before stopping her. “Fatima, homework may seem like a horrible thing to you but it is important. It helps you remember and learn all of the necessary things that will help you in school. And by the way, I’m sure that Batman always did his homework.”
Fatima sighed and just went back to answering what seemed like page after page of math questions, not so quietly kicking her feet against the table to show her frustration. It was so hard! She had no idea how to answer the questions. The entire concept of fractions seemed too hard to understand. She decided to take a break. Later that day, while baking with her mom, she explained how fractions worked in baking a cake. How you need to use certain fractions and proportions to make the cake sweet, fluffy, and soft. It reminded Fatima of her math homework from earlier that day. Now that she could relate to a real life concept, Fatima felt much more confident in doing her math homework.
When she once again sat down to finish her homework, she found herself relating each fraction problem to her cake baking experience. Having to do her homework helped Fatima cement the information about fractions. It showed her how practicing and understanding her homework could help her do simple everyday tasks. After this, although Fatima still preferred going outside and playing, she now understood that even though it wasn’t the most fun task in the world, homework was still important, and that Batman probably did his homework too.
Helen Li
Helen is twelve years old. She likes to volunteer by planting trees and helping out at special events in the community. In her spare time, she enjoys writing essays, playing piano, and reading. She often goes outside for hikes on trails, too!
“I want to fly like a bird!” Little hands excitedly pumped up and down as Heather looked out the plane window, waving at the eagles flying beside them. She cheerfully told her mother what her future goals were. Her mother laughed. “When you grow up, you will fly like a bird.” Heather simply tilted her head, confused by what her mother said, but went off to play with her toys and soon forgot about the words she heard.
As the years passed, young Heather grew. The first day of kindergarten soon came and went, without a single tear from Heather. She soon made friends in her class, and loved her school. In third grade, she gave her first presentation in front of her class, and her teacher praised her for her wonderful performance. Heather looked forward to going to school each day, and cheerfully entered the classroom with a big smile on her face.
One day, many years after she first told her mother about her dream of flying, Heather remembered what her mother told her, and realized that school really had helped her to fly. But not in the way she intended. There, she learned to read, write, do math, and created some of the greatest memories she had. School had helped her achieve her greatest, by making an environment that she loved and in which she felt loved.
In a way, Heather thought, everyone was like a baby eagle, waiting until they were able to leave the nest. It was thanks to school that she was able to spread her wings and see the horizon.
Sophia Ojeda
Sophia is thirteen and is going into eighth grade. She has many hobbies that range from lacrosse, which she is currently playing, and swimming, which she used to do.
Megan is a young girl who is unable to move. Her disability didn’t allow her to be independent, so her parents hired an aide for her. Because of this, she was judged a lot, criticized, and bullied. But in reality, Megan is a very kind hearted and smart girl. She learned how to read and write using special tools, because learning was important to her. She absolutely loved reading. Her all-time favorites were “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “Charlotte’s Web.” The characters in these books always made Megan feel more confident. They gave her hope.
Because of her love for learning, she was enrolled in a gifted program at her school. With the help of her aide, she went through the whole school day without much difficulty. She was quite intelligent, and was soon at the top of her class and she was a favorite of her teacher. That made the other kids jealous, and they felt like her disability was the reason for it.
Some students who were jealous, taunted Megan by making fun of her wheelchair, disabilities, and that she wasn’t smart at all. Megan became very angry at these comments, and sometimes was unable to control her body when she got mad.
“What a freak!” They would shriek. These comments made Megan end up having seizures, which made the kids laugh even more. To help Megan calm down, her aide would give Megan her favorite books, and help her turn the pages.
Megan kept reading, and over time, learned to deal with the rude comments and people in the right way. Megan entered many competitions, won awards, and helped her school stand out amongst the others. When she grew up, she told her story in a best-selling autobiography called “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover”.