A Peice to Die For

Authors Note:

I really wanted to do this piece because I remember this piece from when i went to the art museam and I thought it would be intersting to learn more about it. Please look formy use of A-B transitions.

Every 1 out of 800 live births end up with down syndrome. They live their lives with impulsive behavior, small ears, small mouths, and poor judgement. The list goes on and on, but there is no reason to feel bad for these kids because they live their lives just as good as every other kid in the world.

David M. Lenz is a Self-Employed Artist ,full time, in Shorewood, WI. He went to school and got his Bachelor degree in Fine Arts, at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee,in 1985. He got married to Rosemarie Feiza-Lenz  and had their son Sam. Sam wasn't a typical boy, he was born with down syndrome.

Although Sam does have down syndrome, he was still a silly 9 year old. According to PubMed Health, down syndrome occurs when there is an extra copy of chromosome 21. This form of down syndrome is called Trisomy 21. The extra chromosome causes problems with the way the body and brain develop. At the age of nine his father painted a oil painting of him standing in front of a scene in Wisconsin.  

Even as people see kids with down syndrome as children with special needs, many people don’t view Sam as a special needs kid because he lives a somewhat normal life. He is like other kids, but he has a special piece of him in the Milwaukee Art Museum. Before this piece was famous, it was entered in a contest with 4,000 other paintings. He was selected in the top 100 people. Then he was  selected to be in the top 7. Finally, after a long wait him and his family were flown out to Washington D.C. to be selected as the winner on June 23.

Life just lives on for this child who is able to live a not so average life. How tremendous would it be to know that a painting of you is being displayed at a museum. This little boy never let any sickness stop him in life so next time you see a “special needs” child just say “hi” to them because they are just another  person  like you and it just might make their day.

Reputation Competition

Authors Note:
I felt connected to this book in a certain way. Although no one in our school takes popularity to that much of an extreme, if you’re not careful you could end up trying to be like someone else. Please look for my a-b transitions, and my lurid use of vocabulary words.

Everyone backs away as the so called popular clique come through. They had on their Swiss-dot silk DKNY dress ($248), Marc by Marc Jacobs leather kitten heels ($265), a BCBG beaded clutch ($108) and a hair clip ($32) the grand total for just one outfit is $653.00. There is four of them and if I took everything out of their closets I would have enough money to buy a zoo.  The minute these girls walk through the doors, it creates a huge popularity contest. In the novel The Clique,  Lisi Harrison really paints a vivid picture about the difficulties in school popularity contests. Through small hints in the book she showed readers the importance in being true to yourself.



When there are people who are stuck-up in school, they make up things or act dramatic just to be “popular”; they’re the ones who end up without a career or drop out of college because of their grades. People take popularity all the way to a point where it’s a competition to gossip about someone or something they did. The juicer the gossip the more “gossip points” they got. They’re not focused on their grades, just getting those gossip points. In addition they are focused on being mean to innocent people who are just trying to live their everyday lives. According to Make A Sound For The Voice Unheard it’s estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students. “Source: National Education Association.”



Although it may seem like the popular group is the only ones being cruel, but little do you know the “outcasts” have a devil side too. If you don’t read this book you wouldn’t be able to see the cruelty that can come out. You may have thought that Claire was harmless and sympathetic, but really she was sneaking into Massie's room at night to talk Massie's friends into liking her. It was like Claire was manipulating Massie’s friends into thinking she was cool. When Claire did these things she didn’t really mean to hurt them, but they were so mean to her and she was frustrated that she didn't have any true friends.



Although being an outcast is hard, it’s even harder to know people talk about you behind your back. If you're not in “the group” you're probably getting talked about and if you're in “the group” then people are still probably talking about you. We are all guilty for gossiping, it’s just our nature. When you talk behind peoples backs you get the feeling of being better than the person your talking about.

As the popularity contest sinks into your life it’s important to stay true to your colors. When you are young everyone gets along; as long as you get your cookies, life's good. Things start to get more complicated when you get older and the contest begins. When school life has lots of drama try not to get caught up in the contest because it will come back to hurt you in the end.

Think

Authors note: I am really lucky that I have a home to go to after school or after activities, but others aren’t as fortunate. Some kids don’t get to live in their house for more than two or three months. I wrote about this short story because this story told me exactly what it was trying to say.

We load everything in the dusty truck again to move to up north for the grape growing season. That means new friends, new school, and a new house, again. I really wish we would stop moving, but if we did I wouldn’t be able to go to school or have enough money to buy food. When Franciso Jimenezthe wrote The Circuit, he intended to open the eyes of the privileged to see the less fortunate families

Like a lot of people, myself included, we have the opportunity to live our lives in the same place, not moving from house to house. As kids our parents work for the same job all year so we never have to move; unlike other kids where their parent’s jobs go with the flow of the growing season. While you get the privilege to live in the same house for multiple years you get to develop a friend group that you spent a lot of your time with, and get good advice from. That all changes if you’re constantly moving.

Although a lot of kids get to live in the same house for many years, the others who don’t have many struggles. Their self esteem is low because they feel like they never have any friends. As families move, the children would always feel like the new kid; they wouldn’t know anyone. What if no one wanted to be their friend? At least at their old school they had plenty of friends.

People that are more fortunate need to open their eyes and see the families who are less blessed in the work field. Kids in school need to accept people of all shapes and sizes, because once you have a good friend you might lose them faster than you wish.

Elimation all together

 Authors note:

This is a topic I feel very strongly about and I know that everyone has an opinion about it. Please look for my astonishing use of vocabulary.

“The prisoners’ overseers beat them mercilessly, kicked them, and clubbed them. They would fall to the ground. It was a macabre scene. I had never in my life seen anything like it. Neither did I later on, even though I remained in the camp for a long time after.” – Jerzy Bieleki

What the Nazis did to a lot of people is further pain than discrimination; it hurt them a lot more. Because of the Nazis all Jews lived in horror. They lived hiding in small, dark, and cramped places. Their lives were filled with walking quietly and no fresh air because of fear that they would be killed if they were seen.  In the novel Anne Frank by Mirjam Pressler the author shows how the Nazis ruined the lives of not only the Jews, but also the lives of people from other races as well; they were not only discriminating against these races, but trying eliminating them altogether.

Discrimination isn't necessarily a bad thing.  According to Webster's New College Dictionary, the act of discrimination means altering actions against a person because of what they believe in or how they look. You're not allowed to drive until you're sixteen and that discrimination but it's a good thing because the roads are a lot safer.  We discriminate everyday but it isn't always wrong.

What the Nazis did was far worse than discrimination.  When the war started the Nazis would capture Jews and if they learn that they were a Polish politician they would hang them on what is called the hook. Across the wall lies the hook, prisoners get their hands tied behind their backs, then get hung in an uncomfortable position from their hands. Polish politician Jerzy Bielecki who was sent to Auschwitz said this, "He wanted to hang me on the hook. He said “stand up on your toes.” Finally he hooked me and then he kicked the stool away without any warning. I just felt Jesus Mary, oh my God, the terrible pain. My shoulders were braking out of the joints. Both arms were breaking from the joints. I'd been moaning and he just said 'Shut up, you dog. You deserve it.  You have to suffer.”

During all the chaos of the war against the Nazis and the Soviet Union there was still mass murder going on at Auschwitz. This lead to discrimination and elimination towards people of all races. On the sign at the beginning of Auschwitz it said “Arbeit Macht Frei,” which translated to English means “work makes you free.” Later on people were outraged at the Nazis because no matter how hard people worked they by no means were set free.

When the Nazis were discriminating against the Jews and people of other races they were trying to eliminate people who were not like them.  Many people went through a lot of pain and suffering as a result of a strong prejudice toward a particular group of people. To stop this from happening again, our nation needs to understand each others belifis religions, so never again will we have people like the Nazis. 

Christmas...

Authors note:

This is one of the first time I have wrote about my strong beliefs in religions. This essay is not made to offend people so I hope you enjoy and look for my use of voice.

Merry Christmas! What so wrong with that.  Why do people have to say Happy Holidays now? People  believe that saying Merry Christmas is wrong because they  don't  fallow Christ, then why don't they think of it like this, if I say merry Christmas to you  I'm just saying I hope your Christmas is good. After all Christmas is the name of the holiday.

In a businesses they are required to say happy holidays unless someone says merry Christmas first.

What do people call a Christmas tree if you don’t believe in Christ, you call it a holiday tree. But if people don't believe in Kwanzaa why isn't the  symbol of the holiday, the Manorah called a holiday candle. I think people should  respect each others religion.

The Cup To Your Cake

Authors note:

Sometimes I feel like my weightings are to short, like I'm slaking of but really why make it longer than it needs to be. Short and sweet.

We all need a best friend, someone to turn to that you know can help you. There you peanut to your butter, they are your cup to your cake they are your solid ground. I'm not talking about just a friend I'm talking about you mom, or maybe for you it your dad. But either way they are always there. Speaking of always there, your always going to have that pesky little brother, or annoying big sister. You don't have to be their best friend, but you got to love them.  They are your family, If you did try to get rid of them who would drive you and your friends to the mall? I guess that really doesn’t matter because the real reason is because your family, you can't live with them, but you most defiantly can't live without them.

Eat your Veggies Mr.Belly

Authors note:
This is one of the first times i have written a poem out of my own doing not by a teacher telling me to, also i will tell you this right now, this poem is very silly.


There once was a boy named Belly,

His mom told him to eat his veggies,

And so he told his mom there all gross inside,

And no veggies went into his belly.

Then the next day he was weak,

He asked his mom what to eat,

Then at that time his mom started to rhyme

 and before long the song got him eating his veggies.