Monthly Archives: January 2019

Physical Mentality

Posted on by Standard Respond

By Matthew Ferrer

A phoenix soaring high, mighty,
With golden wings of fire,
Shown in front of me,
Their priority is higher.

Shower them with many gifts,
Praise the burning one with blurred eyes;
An escapism of lies,
Though, remember: worthy is your life.

A wave of anger shall be sent with strength,
With the phoenix’s woes and cries,
“Bow down to me, you’ll see,
I will empower strength with thee.”

For thy above does not know,
Golden tears shall glow brighter,
Than its own silver scars;
Far from any worth.

A mindset in physical form,
That phoenix, a true image,
A legend, a monster,
Your mind has blindly adorned.

This beauty of a monster,
Is to silence your true mentality,
Thy joy of what is reality,
Fear does the phoenix endear so.
A phoenix soaring high, mighty,
With golden wings of fire,
Shown in front of me,
Their priority is higher.

Shower them with many gifts,
Praise the burning one with blurred eyes;
An escapism of lies,
Though, remember: worthy is your life.

A wave of anger shall be sent with strength,
With the phoenix’s woes and cries,
“Bow down to me, you’ll see,
I will empower strength with thee.”

For thy above does not know,
Golden tears shall glow brighter,
Than its own silver scars;
Far from any worth.

A mindset in physical form,
That phoenix, a true image,
A legend, a monster,
Your mind has blindly adorned.

This beauty of a monster,
Is to silence your true mentality,
Thy joy of what is reality,
Fear does the phoenix endear so.
A phoenix soaring high, mighty,
With golden wings of fire,
Shown in front of me,
Their priority is higher.

Shower them with many gifts,
Praise the burning one with blurred eyes;
An escapism of lies,
Though, remember: worthy is your life.

A wave of anger shall be sent with strength,
With the phoenix’s woes and cries,
“Bow down to me, you’ll see,
I will empower strength with thee.”

For thy above does not know,
Golden tears shall glow brighter,
Than its own silver scars;
Far from any worth.

A mindset in physical form,
That phoenix, a true image,
A legend, a monster,
Your mind has blindly adorned.

This beauty of a monster,
Is to silence your true mentality,
Thy joy of what is reality,
Fear does the phoenix endear so.

A Book Review on The Prisoner of Night and Fog

Posted on by Standard Respond

By Maya Viswanathan

The Prisoner of Night and Fog is a book about a girl named Gretchen Muller. She is growing up in Munich, Germany in the late 1930s, just before World War two. Many years ago, her father sacrificed his life to protect Adolf Hitler, and ever since, Hitler has been a close family friend to Gretchen and her family. Gretchen admires Hitler very much and completely trusts him, until she meets a Jewish reporter that reveals that the story of her father’s death is not exactly the way it was told to her. Suddenly Gretchen begins to question Hitler and his beliefs and she sets out to solve the mystery of what really happened to her father.

This book is historical fiction but it is also a mystery. I like that, because a lot of people think that historical fiction is boring. However, when there is a mystery, that makes the plot more interesting. You always want to know what is going to happen next. Also, because it is historical fiction, you can learn a lot about the Nazis and Germany at the time. I personally like both mysteries and historical fiction, so I like reading a combination of the two. When I read historical fiction, I can imagine a different time in history. I get to see what it was like to live in a different time. Mysteries are fun and I am always wondering and guessing what the detective will discover.

Another thing I find interesting about the book is that it is about a Nazi. I think that a lot of books set at the time before World War two are about people who are against the Nazis, not a book about a Nazi. I think it is interesting to read about the Nazis’ point of view. Gretchen didn’t realize all the terrible things that Hitler wanted to do until late in the book. She wasn’t a bad girl but she was brainwashed by Hitler and the other Nazis. Even after she realized that he was bad, she continued to defend him out of habit. It was interesting to see how much being a Nazi affected her life.

The Prisoner of Night and Fog is nominated for Golden Jaguar this year. It is a great book and there is something in it for everyone. Adventure, friendship, and interesting historical facts. Do you want to find out what Munich was like in the 1930s? Do you want to learn more about Hitler and the Nazis? Do you want to discover the truth about Gretchen’s father? Read this exciting and hard to put down book to learn all these things and more.

Homer Lake 6th Grade Field Trip

Posted on by Standard Respond

By: Kiara Garcia

The first field trip of the year! For science class, 6th grade went to Homer Lake. Homer Lake is located in South Homer Township, IL. They went there to learn about ecosystems. While there, they went through stations to see the different plants and organisms.

At the first station, Pond Dipping, they had small nets and were tasked with trying to find small marine invertebrates, organisms without a backbone. The station after that wasn’t very much of anything. It was in a small area where there was a water fountain. The area also had a big, tree branch to climb on, which was very fun for the students to take pictures at and climb on.

After that, the students had about 40-60 minutes for lunch, which (as expected) was partly spent actually eating lunch and mostly spent exploring the grounds. Later on was the Water Animals station. There, the park ranger (I don’t exactly know what it’s called) took out preserved turtle shells. They talked about the shell and the characteristics of it. Then, they took out a Red-Eared Slider, a type of turtle, and talked about it and the characteristics of the turtle. The last turtle they took out was a Snapping Turtle. They, again, talked about the turtle and its characteristics.

The next activity was a hike! Pretty simple. This was mainly just to give them a break and for fun! Afterward was Testing of Water Quality. In this station, students chose groups of 4-5 people. Each group tested the water for something different.

Overall, the field trip of the year was pretty great!