school – Page 2

Kent started school finally

Yep, today was the Kent School District’s first day of the 2009 – 2010 school year.

The source of the delay in state was a teacher strike, which our own G. Liu discussed in a post right here.

The pure source of the teacher strike, the absolute root of the issues G. Liu stated as the source of the strike is money. The Kent School District’s lack of it. Kent lacks money to pay for building refurbishments that add classrooms, to pay for new teachers, and other issues.

The other problem is that Kent has way too much property covered by them. This specific point means that their schools are packed. There’s also 4 grades packed into the high schools, and 6 packed into elementary schools. Tahoma’s scheme of K-5 in Elementary, 6 and 7 in Middle, 8 and 9 in Junior High, and 10-12 in Senior High works very well. It provides a gradual approach to High School for students and gives a more gentle narrowing of schools. Tahoma has 4 elementary schools, 2 middle schools, one junior high and one senior high (as well as a “High School Alternative”). Kent has 28 elementary schools, 6 middle schools and 5 high schools.

Kent School District is about to be the next GM, going through an awkward “restructuring” to solve their problem. (GM still makes lousy cars though.)

Hopefully though Kent can survive at least until December without further strikes.

Kent teachers STILL on strike and I’m pissed

As a KSD student, I have been absolutely pissed at the fact that Kent teachers remain on strike despite the judge’s order for them to get back to class today. Before August 26th, the School District had offered them a handful of proposals, all were rejected by the Kent Teachers’ Association, so the teachers went on strike.

The reason the teachers went on strike in the first place was because issues such as classroom head count was unregulated and time spent with students was very small. In terms of these two parameters, Kent School District is not up to par, and the teachers wanted the School District to be. Thus, the teachers were really striking for the benefit of students, since less classmates equals more productivity and more time with the teacher means more learning.

August 31st, the first “day” of school, came around, and still no agreement between the teachers and the District. Finally, our superintendent, Edward Lee Vargas filed a complaint to Judge Andrea Darvas. On Thursday, she ruled that the strike was illegal, ordered the teachers to return to classrooms on Tuesday, and students to go back on Wednesday. But yesterday (Monday), teachers voted 71% to defy the judge’s order. I was absolutely ticked off.

Some parents and students actually supported the striking teachers. I stand fast in opposing this strike though. First of all, school has been delayed because of this stalemate between the two sides. Secondly, the School District has already offered the teachers a multitude of proposals that the teachers might as well accept, but no. The teachers are so stubborn, even in this recession, that they will by no means compromise. Horrible attitude, teachers. Such proposals they got were assistance for large class sizes and more pay. An alternative is better than nothing, so why not just accept and end this stagnant strike? Lastly, Judge Darvas already ordered the teachers back to class, and defying a judge’s order can result in jail time or fines. I would not risk this to continue on strike, and I don’t get why the hell the teachers are.

I’m absolutely pissed. This strike has made life boring, and there’s no end in sight. Some of my classmates say school will likely start in October, and Darren asked me what I would say if this case was taken to the Supreme Court? First of all, I’d laugh, and secondly, I’d already be attending a different school.

Done.

Done with school.
Done with education.
Done with projects
Done with essays.

Done with teachers.
Done with homework.
Done with math, english, social studies, and all those subjects.
Done.

No more stress.
No more lack of sleep.
No more cramming.
No more nonsense.

No more angering the librarians by playing games on the computer that you’re not supposed to.

No more.
Done.

School!

My school gets out tomorrow (friday), so I’m really happy. I’ll probably sleep through most of it.

My school year sucked. This year, was my first year being homeschooled. Apart from being homeschooled, I realized how much I hate my mother. So, I go to my grandparents house everyday, and do schoolwork.

So, I’m looking forward to summer. Looking at how the weather is now, I’m not too certain I’ll end up enjoying it though.

To the End!

For everyone, school’s almost out. Summer is approaching, and the enduring and relentless heat has driven girls at our school to break dress codes.

It was a year full of memories for me. When I started school back in September, I had to switch classes because “they” screwed up my schedule. After I switched classes, I discovered that I had a test on a book. While everyone got two weeks to read the book, I got three days, and yet, my teacher expected me to pass the test like everyone else. I didn’t pass the test and that ruined my grade for the rest of the year.

The first semester of school went on without much more happening. Tests, projects, quizzes, waking up too early, sleeping too late every single day. This was the case until December, when school was happily interrupted by storm after storm of snow, much more than we’ve gotten for the past twelve years. Some days we had late starts, and some days, school was canceled. Kids enjoyed the days they had off from school, but snow plow drivers and those who still had to go to work did not.

The second semester came quickly, and I tried some new things. I played a piano accompaniment for the orchestra and for several people at their recital. I went to our school’s restaurant and tried some great food there. I conducted the orchestra and went to a college to perform there. It seemed like I had finally found the zest of high school, even though I wasn’t in athletics or too many school activities.

And finally, after a few more concerts, contests, and competitions, it is almost time to say goodbye. Today, our principal recognized our seniors for their excellent work and their legacy at our school in a special assembly. They will graduate next Saturday and move on. For me, that’s still a while away, but a time will come, and when it does, I will look back at my twelve wonderful years and wonder: “What will be in store for me for the next twelve years?”

An egg experiment gone wrong

In science class, we were to perform an experiment to test how hypertonic a solution was to an egg. A hypertonic solution has less water in it than is in the egg.

We first peeled off the shell by immersing the eggs in 90mL of vinegar for three days. When we got back, all of the shell of my egg was removed. We decided to test how hypertonic laundry detergent and VitaminWater were to the egg. We immersed four de-shelled eggs, two into each solution.

After the first day, the results were quite obvious. The eggs immersed in VitaminWater were beginning to expand because water had been moving into the cell; apparently, the concentration of water in VitaminWater was greater than it was in the egg cell. The opposite happened to the eggs immersed in laundry detergent.

When we first saw our eggs, there was a one-inch thick membrane of semi-solid laundry detergent surrounding the eggs. It made the egg take on the appearance of an embryo. Upon taking the eggs out, we realized that almost all of the laundry detergent had taken on this solid form.

We proceeded to wash our eggs and our hands, but had no idea that the laundry detergent was notoriously difficult to wash off our hands.

When we examined the eggs, the surface was wrinkly and calluses were starting to form. But this would compare to nothing as we observed the next day. It was the first day’s results, ten times worse. The egg’s membrane had become so loose that we could lift the egg by the membrane and shake its contents around. The calluses were so abundant that the membrane had become a thick wall of bumps. On the other hand, the eggs immersed in VitaminWater were filled with the orange liquid and looked like they were ready to burst.

Eventually, we popped our eggs. Unlike some, where the contents exploded out of the hole, ours leaked out slowly. We had to squeeze our eggs to get the contents out. What was left was a membrane that I swore could have been converted into a small sack for storing things.

Never repeat this experiment, unless you want your hands to have a gooey feel and if you want to see what I mean by a one-inch thick membrane of semi-solid laundry detergent. I don’t think you would want to try this, considering that all my classmates cringed at the sight of my egg.

Peace out,
Deathgleaner

Drinking Coke with Hot Tamales?

Would someone really drink Coke with Hot Tamales? At my school, yes!

I am here to report something that happened at my lunch table.

Apparently, this one kid by the name of Eric put about twenty hot tamales into a full can of soda. Then, another guy, Ethan, took a sip of it and he could barely stand the spiciness. Then, another kid by the name of Tyrone took the can of soda and chugged it down like he hadn’t drunk in four days. His reaction wasn’t that bad, considering that Ethan had a flush-red face after just sipping a little bit.

I am Deathgleaner, and will report any future things that happen at my school.

Peace out,

Deathgleaner