Blood is Thicker Than Water

"Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of. You know whatever you do, they'll still be there." ~Amy Li. Your sister is there for you, sometimes to help you and sometimes to annoy you to the point of breaking something. The big sister is the best. She has so many talents, from being perfect, to being the best friend in the entire world.

Protection. What an older sister will do for her younger sister. The Hunger Games, there was a 1 in a thousand chance that Prim's name would be called but when it was called Katniss launched into full protection mode. Katniss won't let her sister be taken away to the Capitol to fight in the Games as entertainment. No, that would cause Prim to loose her life. Katniss protected Prim by volunteering to go fight to her death in the "amazing" Hunger Games. "I reach her just as she is about to mount the stage. With one sweep of my arm, I push her behind me. 'I volunteer!' I gasp. 'I volunteer as a tribute.'" Page 22 of The Hunger Games. With Katniss' younger sister means the world to herm and with her gone Katniss would not be the same, she wants her sister to grow up and live a happy life and she is willing to give up everything to give that chance to her precious baby sister. Once Katniss knows Prim is out of danger she can relax, she has done her job as a sister and protected the person who matters the most. The little sister.

Friendship. Sometimes when you don't need protection you need a friend. When Miriam's mom died and her father remarried, the last thing she wanted was a sister. Her new sister was perfect, pretty, lively, and natural. Miriam didn't like her new sister she was too perfect and nice. It didn't seem real. But one day when their mom and dad take the two girls on a road trip Ariele, Miriam's sister, shows Miriam what it's like to live life to it's fullest. And ever since that day the two girls have been best friends, even though they are sisters. They love and care for each other so much, no one could ever could ever tell that Miriam once hated the sister that loved her so much. (This story is from Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul 2)

Love. When you have had a bad day your sister is there to comfort you, well at lest mine is. My older sister may be obnoxious, crazy, and just plain weird but it makes her beautiful. She loves me like no one else and when I need her she is there to hold me. Her hands are strong and her words are reassuring, her eyes full of happiness and all of her filled with love. That is what I love the most about my sister, my Maddy. When someone makes fun of me or I have done something wrong, she doesn't scold me, she doesn't yell, she loves. She tells me everything will be alright and that I am perfect the way I am, no one can change me. My sister inspires me to stand up for my self, to make things the way I want them not the way someone else does. I know nothing can break this love that we share. Maddy and Me.

Love, Protection, Friendship.. just some of the qualities an older sister has to make her so amazing. The older sister is a gift, one that will always be there, in the midst of everything. Through thick and thin, because blood is thicker that water. "A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life." ~Isadora James

Painting is from: Heidi Malott

Fight for Life

Life can change in a second. One moment your laughing having fun and the next your in excruciating pain. Caitlin Beadles life changed exactly like that. She was at the lake hanging out and enjoying the weekend. Caitlin was on the Jet Ski with her friends when they capsized and they were thrown into the water. She was floating there when they boat came by pulling the canoe, Caitlin threw her head back and her legs got chopped up. The boat driver didn't notice, but Caitlin's friends did. Caitlin was rushed to the hospital, on the way she flat lined twice, but no one gave up on her.

This girl pushed through this terrible accident and made things work for her, she pushed and tried and never gave up. And what she fought for, was her life.

A flatline means your dead. Your heart stops and your dead. Caitlin had two. She 'died' twice. But because she was a fighter and the ones around her loved and cared for her she survived. Caitlin's first action in her fight for life was keeping her eyes open. She made sure that she kept her eyes open, if she closed them she would probably not be here today. Caitlin struggle was getting to the hospital in time to be treated, and saved. I believe that God helped her stay alive, all of her friends and family were praying, and I think God took control and saved her. But getting to the hospital wasn't the end of her fight.

Caitlin's next fight was the surgeries and being stuck in bed. She went into surgery and woke up during the middle of it, she couldn't be put back under because she would have a 99% chance of never waking up. "We are going to have to take her leg" was what Caitlin heard, but she couldn't say anything. After her surgery and having 6,000 stitches in ONE leg, she had to recover. Caitlin had a tube in her throat that would 'breathe' for her, so she couldn't talk. That was her biggest challenge, not being able to talk while your friends and family are visiting you. Caitlin got tired of her bed, so that lead her to her next challenge, learning to walk.

Imagine having to learn to walk all over again, the pain and effort it would take. Well that nightmare became a reality for Caitlin. With most of the nerves getting cut up in her leg, she had little feeling so learning to walk was a great big challenge. Taking one step with a walker was a challenge, but Caitlin was determined to walk again. Little by little, with God and sweat, Caitlin could walk once again. Caitlin overcame the challenge of walking. She worked her butt off to regain what she had lost. Caitlin fought for her life.

Caitlin is the ultimate example of a fighter, a believer, and a survivor. She pushed through obstacles and got what she wanted, a second shot. She started new, with sweat and perseverance. Caitlin started with God. Caitlin fought and fought for the most important thing, LIFE.

Caitlin's story.

Photo

Looking Beneath the Skin

Is it acceptable to exclude someone because they aren’t good enough?

Exclude: to deny access from a group. Inferior: Not a high rank.

But isn’t everyone the same?

Discrimination: the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people. Prejudicial: harmful to someone.

Martin Luther King Jr. was on my side, he thought it was never acceptable to exclude anyone. The black people were discriminated because they were a different color, “a different type of person.” Was it true that they were different? No, it wasn’t, they are people just the same, the only difference was they weren’t treated like it. They were treated like the dirt on the bottom of someone's shoes. They had to drink from different water fountains, eat in different sections, and they had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted it.

Rosa Parks stood her ground when a white lady wanted her seat, she said no, and look what happened, she inspired the black people. Rosa Parks bravely stood her ground to the white lady. Even thought she was arrested and fined, she still believed in what she did. Rosa Parks ignited the fire with a spark of hope for the black race. After Rosa Parks arrest many black people wanted to start standing up for themselves, they saw what Rosa was doing and the race for freedom was on. The person who led this protest was an amazing hero, Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr, born on January 12 1929, was one of the world greatest leaders. He was a leader ever since he was elected class president for a predominately white senior class, in college. After He graduated from 2 different colleges he met his wife in Boston and they went on to have 2 sons and 2 daughters. In 1954, Martin became pastor of his Baptist Church in Alabama. Martin Luther King Jr. strongly believed that God did not care what color you were, that every single person was equal under the eyes of the one who mattered the most, God. Martin Luther King Jr. was always a strong worker for civil rights, for the people of colored skin. Martin Luther King Jr. was a member of the executive committee of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the leading organization of it's kind. Then in 1955 he was ready to accept the leadership of the first great Negro nonviolent prostest in the United States. The bus boycott lasted 382 days.

The Civil Right Movement was not about fighting, it was about showing the white people what was going on, and why it was wrong. The protests were not done with guns, but with posters and words. The most famous form of the protest was Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech. The speech moved people to side with the black people, to make them rethink the way they were treating the colored people. Martin Luther King Jr. continued to fight for the freedom of the black race. With the great conclusion to his speech, he once again reminded the white race that they were all the same under the eyes of God.

"And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

That was how Martin Luther King Jr. ended his nonviolent protest, with the words that speak the truth. No matter what color you are what race you are God will always love and cherish you.

Everyday I see the discrimination of people. At school people are discriminated because they are black, white, and Asian, I think it’s horrible. Everyday someone says something to make another feel bad, but they say “Oh it was just a joke.” Was it? Did they mean it as a joke? Well, that is undetermined but it seems an after thought to say it was a joke. It doesn’t mean that I am perfect, it doesn’t make any of us perfect, we have all discriminated, and have been discriminated. But what we don’t realize is we are all fabulous people with wonderful ideas, and if people can’t accept it, it is their loss. You need to just make new friends, who accept you for who you are. Just because you are not a high enough rank doesn’t mean you can’t do good in life. Just because you are different it doesn’t make you bad, It makes you unique, something everyone has to learn to accept. God loves you no matter what color you are, no matter what you look like, no matter what personality you have. God is the one person who will love yo no matter what.

Sites:

Rosa Parks: http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/par0bio-1
Martin Luther King Jr.: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm , http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html

Paintings: http://sagecollective.blogspot.com/2011/01/tributes-fit-for-king.html

Invisible Words

Popularity by: Anne W.

Tragic corruption comes from others
Their words like whips cracking on your back
They scar you until you are invisible
Infected with the love of others, they see no harm
They do what they do without uncertainty
Attaching themselves to others with fake affection
They call it popularity
No longer should you hide under the shadows
Speak with authority and stand up for yourself
Call down the monsters in their lies
Declare to the world, exhort them to join you
Challenge the ones with sharp words
Speak with conviction
Under the weight, they will crumble
And you will no longer be
INVISIBLE.

What is worth fighting for? Standing up for yourself is definitely something worth fighting for. My poem is about this, someone standing up to the people who hurt them and ruin their life. Standing up for yourself is worth fighting for because it's your life, do what YOU want with it. I would stand up for myself and get other people to help me. This relates to my poem because it is about someone who is being bullied and then they get other people to help them stand up for what is right. Life is too short to waste it hiding under the shadows, its time that you go and stand up for your right to say and be what you want. Standing up is a way to fight for what you believe. What is worth fighting for?

Escaping the Clutches of Death

“Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.” (Omar Bradley) That’s what Jerzy Bielecki did to save the one he loved. Jerzi fought for the girl he loved, and he fought to out run death. He escaped out of Auschwitz, every moment expecting to be shot down. He was Catholic and was on the first train from Poland to Auschwitz. Jerzy, born in 1923, met his love, in Auschwitz, working at a grain farm. He decided to rescue his love, a Jewish Cyla Cybulska, from the death camp. Jerzy formed a plan, he stole a SS uniform, went to her cabin, and took her for “questioning” where they then escaped to freedom, when he was only 17.

Jerzy showed us how saving one person can make a difference. He did what he thought was right, he helped Cyla to freedom by sneaking her out of Auschwitz and taking her to one of his relative’s homes. He motivated Cyla to escape because she was the only one in her family left, her mother, father, sister, and 2 brothers, were all dead from the gas chambers or from intense labor in the concentration camp. As prisoners on the run, their food supplies soon ran out, and they lacked many resources. They were hungry, tired and dehydrated. Cyla couldn't take the hardship anymore. She was exhausted. Cyla begged for Jerzy to leave her behind, but he would never, keeping her moving by telling her they were close. Most of the time when she was tired he carried her, across rivers, up and down hills, and on flat ground. Jerzy was determined that Cyla should survive which shows his selflessness by only doing what was best for his love. All he cared about was keeping her alive and safe. He even gave up on his own safety to keep her safe, he did everything stealing food, clothes, water, risking his life to keep her’s alive.

Jerzy went beyond his breaking point to get to freedom with Cyla. Jerzy knew he couldn’t save everyone in Auschwitz but he knew he would make a difference to one if he saved their life. He did make a difference to Cyla. He looked death in the eye and said “You won’t take her away from me,” and he took her away from death. After they escaped they were separated, he went to met her but found the building, that they were supposed to met at, burnt down. They both survived not knowing if the other made it. Jerzy's story soon spread, and when Cyla heard it she immediately knew it was her Jerzy.

Fighting for what you believe in can be a hard thing, especially when you are trying to escape from a concentration camp. Jerzy accomplished it, he did what he believed in. He kept the one thing that mattered the most, Cyla, alive. Jerzy did one the hardest things to do at a concentration camp, but yet he did. Jerzy escaped the clutches of death.

Painting: The Great Escape by: Natalie Green

Joining Hands Around a New World

Help. In every country, there is someone seeking aid. There are families constantly losing loved ones, people they care about. There are many countries that need aid. I think that with a few joined hands, they can live in a better community with fresh, clean water and enough food to fill their stomachs. Right now they are getting diseases and this is just because they don’t have clean water to drink or proper food to eat. Many countries are suffering from AIDS/HIV that can easily be treated, but without the money there is no treatment. Think about what the world would be like if there was no more poverty and were no more people dying of diseases that could have been prevented.

In a new world all of those things wouldn't be happening. Everyone would be friendly and helpful to their neighbors. If everyone helped each other then there would be no such thing as poverty, everyone would have a roof over their head, food to eat, and an education. That would connect everyone and keep everyone from suffering. It would prevent chain reactions such as war. Young artists for Haiti Wavin' Flag describe this perfectly. All these young Canadian singers came together and recorded a song to raise money to help Haiti when the earthquake hit them. They wanted to help the people struggling and they reached out a helping hand to change the fact that the people were hungry and they didnt have a roof over their head.Think about what the world would be like if there was no more poverty and were no more people dying of diseases that could have been prevented. In a new world it's possible. Help.

Painting: "A Helping Hand"By: Jeanine Malaney

Tears of Shattered Glass

As terror broke through the Jewish "race" the Nazi's were enjoying themselves. The fire was everywhere, glass broke all around there were screams of pain, that was not all. The synagogue was in flames, everything in the building was burnt.

Kristallnacht, 1933, was the night when tears were shed. Propaganda was to blame. Little by little the Jews were being looked at badly, and things started to get worse. People saw signs saying everything was over, things were getting better. The Nazis still looked like the good guys with their fancy programs and statements. Hitler started to target the Jews, therefore he burnt down their temples of prayer. He completely brainwashed everyone into thinking the Jews were evil freaks. Hitler even got children, ages 10-14, to join the Hitler Youth. Was this the right thing? No, kids shouldn't have to do this! After the buildings were burnt the Nazi's rounded up 30,000 Jewish men and put them into concentration camps.

Not all German's were bad. Andre, a young German-Jew, decided not to be part of the Hitler Youth and throw rocks at the Jewish people. So he went, with his mother and father, to another country. Not all people were strong enough to leave the Fatherland, but they didn't agree with throwing rocks and burning the Jewish race. So these people were just bystanders. But being a bystander is just as bad as throwing rocks. I think that the best thing to do would be to leave Germany. Today in school I see people making fun of teachers and students, not that it will ever become as bad as what happened in Germany, and it makes me feel like I should say something. I don't like what happened in Germany, today one of my good friends is Jewish, and to imagine what went on is even harder for. That's why I choose this painting, I think it shows the confusion of the people, and how they don't seem to know whats going on.

Painted By: Hieronymus Bosch. Temptation of St. Anthony

Site: http://scarriet.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/the-adoration-of-anything-you-think-you-own-is-fire/