Your someone 

Special, someone  

Different like a

Rose petal in

The wind

Your

Hair flows and blows 

You are someone I can 

Love more than myself 

We make fond memories 

Your in the picture on my

Shelf I’m the human and

Your the elf such as a wife 

Longs the soldier out to sea 

You should be 

Here with me 

You are some

One who sh-

Ould be here

With 

The trees are shedding their leaves

One by one they fall they fall

Those autumn leaves swirling down from the trees

 as if they are in a waltz

Yellows, reds, oranges, browns scattered all on the ground 

like they are trying to paint a picture

You look to see pumpkins 

Grown out of ground like lumpy groundhogs 

of all shapes and sizes in a patch of green green grass

You see

Autumn is the second spring in which every leaf is a flower.

Cars with families and havens of love 

Sitting there gazing out 

The sky looks like there is no more drought 

Raining and raining hard to see 

Cars after cars and trees after tree 

Watching rain drip 

Crack, thunder as loud as a whip 

The rain rocks me to sleep 

Everything goes silent not even a peep 

Waking up at the destination 

I get out of the car running with no hesitation 

Hugging my cousins, uncles, and aunts 

Stepping on their lawn ruining there plants 

Happy to be here, full of joy 

Unpacking luggage by luggage, toy by toy 

Summertime is finally here 

No assignments to worry about, no tests to fear 

                          Time, the one thing man can’t control 

                  The thing more valuable than all the money in the world 

                 From the beginning             with green and life to the 

                end of darkness                  and death. The waves of 

                The ocean crash                  as the birds fly above but

                                               One thing stays the same. 

                                             Time never stops not for 

                                            The birds or the fish or 

                                         even me. Time is something

                                        that humans can’t even 

                                      begin to grasp. Everyone 

                                    has a limited amount of 

                                 time some great some

                                very small. even at 

                               the end, time moves 

                               On because time is 

                               Illusion that helps 

                               things make sense

                                    Because 

                                  We are 

                                Always living in  

                                 The present 

Most schools have gone virtual during the pandemic. This is the first time our world has experienced being all virtual. This new change has different effects on different students. Some people are doing really well with virtual school and some are not. 

Let’s start with some of the disadvantages of distance learning. Here are some disadvantages stated in the article written by Priyanka Gutam,“For many students, one of the biggest challenges of online learning is the struggle with focusing on the screen for long periods of time. With online learning, there is also a greater chance for students to be easily distracted by social media or other sites.” Students can miss out on important information during their classes and that can make the assignments more difficult. When the work is more difficult to do some students just might not do it at all instead of getting help. This can make them fall behind in class. Here is another disadvantage stated in the same article, “Another key challenge of online classes is internet connectivity.Without a consistent internet connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of continuity for the child. This is detrimental to the education process.” This also can cause students to fall behind and struggle. Not every household has the best WiFi, some larger families are all doing either school or work from home and that can slow the WiFi down. 

Here are some ways that parents can help their students with distance learning. In the article by Adventist Health they state, “Try to set up the same kind of structure around the school day. Maybe this means that your teenager checks in with their daily assignment list each morning at breakfast. Perhaps you set a daily 9 a.m. alarm that signals the beginning of the school day...Whatever routines you establish, make sure you are collaborating with your teenager and not just dictating.” It is very important that parents collaborate with their children on this because this is a very weird time. Many students are under a lot of stress just trying to keep up with school in this new format. But structure is very beneficial to make it feel more like real school. 

The experience for college students during the pandemic is much different as well. In the article by Nikki Eye she states, ”Online learning loses appeal for students who have their hearts set on a traditional college experience. Without the on-campus interactions with educators, clubs and sports, and other students, many students can feel isolated.” A big part of college is being away from home and in a new place meeting new people. Because of the pandemic students can not go out and experience these things. The author also states,“Online learning can be difficult to navigate, and students are approaching their fall 2020 semesters with a mixture of anxiety and excitement of the unknown.” Some students have anxiety or stress over if they will be able to keep up with this new way of learning. 

There are advantages to virtual learning as well, of course being safe and social distancing is the most important but there are more! In the same article by Priyanka Gutam she lists some pros of virtual learning,“Online learning has a number of tools such as videos, PDFs, podcasts, and teachers can use all these tools as part of their lesson plans. By extending the lesson plan beyond traditional textbooks to include online resources.” The new way of learning online could become useful in the future and also exciting to try new ways of learning. “Another advantage of online education is that it allows students to attend classes from any location of their choice. It also allows schools to reach out to a more extensive network of students, instead of being restricted by geographical boundaries.” This can be helpful so students don’t have to make up lots of work if they go away.

Overall virtual learning has its pros and cons. This is all very new to everyone and we are all still kind of figuring it out. All though it is different students are still learning in this pandemic. We all have to do our part to keep ourselves and others safe during this time. Make sure to check on either your student children or friends and see if there if anyway you can help with this new way of learning and life.

Gilmore Girls is about a mother (Lorelai Gilmore) and a daughter (Rory Gilmore) and their close mother daughter friendship.They live in the small town of Stars Hollow where everyone takes care of everyone, and Lorelai works at the local Inn with Skookie and Michelle. Lorelai has a very harsh relationship with her parents and  they only see each other on holidays. Rory was accepted into this really amazing high school and is excited to go but Lorelai can't afford it so she decided to ask her parents for a loan. They give her the loan but Lorelai and Rory had to have dinner with them every Friday night.  So Lorelai agrees to the deal and because of these Friday night dinners Lorelai with her parents start to form a better relationship. This show follows the friendships, relationships and mistakes that both Rory and Lorelai Gilmore make. 

    As mentioned before,Lorelai Gilmore is a single mother and this show is all about the mother daughter relationship that Lorelai and Rory have, and because of this Lorelai Gilmore has made a huge impact and is a hero to many single mothers. As mentioned in the text  ¨definitely [took on a new meaning,]” Schwartz, a 31-year-old marketing professional and mother of one, said of watching Lorelai’s storyline unfold in the wake of her own split. “I think, as a single mom, there are not a lot of great examples of how to do it right. For me, going back and watching that show was really helpful. [Lorelai] didn’t get everything perfect, but she was strong and stood her ground. She didn’t need a man to be successful. I really appreciated that reminder that I could do it, too.” Even though Lorelai Gilmore was a fictional character, many single mothers saw her as an inspiration and helped then see the good and bad of being a single mother. In the text Schwartz mentions that Lorelai was not always perfect,I think that really helped singles and showed them that it is okay to mess up and make mistakes. One mistake that Lorelai made was when she didn't tell Rory that she didn't tell Rory that her and Max got back together, and Rory found out from Max and not her.

To continue, many single mothers found Lorelai inspiring. She was a hard working single mothers who alway tried her best when it came to raising Rory. Not only that, but she became a mother and an adult at a young age. As stated in the text ¨I’ve literally worked my way back up, and I have a really great career now. Even though it’s a fictional show, it’s really inspiring … When you watch [Lorelai] in the moment, you’re like, ‘If she can do it, so can I.’”  As you can see Lorelai has helped many single mothers through hard times and was an inspiration to many. One moment when she was inspirational was when she ran away from home with Rory and found a job and home for them. Lorelai did all of this on her own.

    Gilmore Girls was loved by many when the show aired (from 200-2007)and now it is on Netflix and a whole new generation loves it. This show has been loved for over 20 years now. In 2016 the show released a 4 part series, showing the viewers where Lorelai and Rory have ended up. Many single mothers can relate to and identify with the character. Lorelai Gilmore has been an inspiration and hero to many single mothers.

All text is from Zara Hanawalt.Single Mothers Weigh In on What Lorelai Gilmore and what Gilmore 

Girls Means to Them. Glamour.com 11/24/2016

The chilly snowflake gracefully dance to the ground,

Wind whirling the snow into a mini tornado,

The bare tree branches snap to the ground,

The heavy snow breaking them.

The sound of snow plows scratching the road,

The feeling of being trapped inside a snowglobe,

A winter wonderland. 

The hot cocoa gets heated on the stove,

The smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies,

The romance in a christmas movie,

The fireplace heating up the whole house. 

The christmas lights brightening spirit,

The garland giving the houses color, 

And the white heavy snow brightening the environment. 

    Now let’s see how this city became known as one of the most cultural cities. To start off, this city was founded all the way back in 1718 by Jean Baptiste Le moyne de Bienville. When New Orleans was first founded, it was mostly just a village filled with small wooden houses which was during the Spanish Colonial Era but now, it is the largest city in Louisiana. Mardi Gras was starting to be celebrated when it was first founded so right away, celebrating and partying became a huge part of New Orleans.

    Speaking of Mardi Gras, by 1730 it was celebrated all throughout New Orleans but with society balls instead of parades like nowadays. In 1856, Mistick Krewe of Comus was the one that made and discovered floats along with masked balls with torches called flambeaux. However, for 40 years straight, Georges Soulie was the one responsible for creating all the floats and costumes that were made from paper-mache. With New Orleans already being the largest city in Louisiana, during Mardi Gras, there is at least over 1million people there celebrating. 

    Now that we went over that, let’s talk about what New Orleans is like now. Nowadays, Bourbon street is one of the most popular, fun streets during the nighttime and everyone is always there because of their nightclubs. This city is mostly known for its jazz music, European-style architecture, Creole cuisine, and overall, their good time vibes. Obviously, when you’re going to want to see more of New Orleans, some easy ways to get around is of course walking which mostly everyone there does but if you don’t want to walk, you can take a street car or rent a bike and go sightseeing. What you have to do when you go to New Orleans is to take tours of the one and only French Quarter along with the WWll museums. The French Quarter is also called “Vieux Carre'' which is where you will find all the shops and bars here. You may or may not know, but jazz and voodoo are huge parts of New Orleans and what brought them here are African Cultures. No matter what, there is always going to be music playing whenever you’re out in the streets, not to mention that ghost sightings are huge in New Orleans, but that’s for another story. 

    This city. The Crescent City. Biggest city in Louisiana. Mardi Gras city. All different names with different meanings just for this one city but it’s because this city can mean so many different things. There’s so much you can learn from this city just by walking around in the streets for an hour and I promise it’ll be worth it. You can learn about the history, try different foods, listen to jazz music, and of course party. The one thing that is certain about this city is that there is so much more meaning to it then what it shows and that’s what makes it one of the best cities in the United States. 

    “Well, let’s start with a quick reflection on the time of year that college students typically observe winter break. To state the obvious, both Christmas and New Year’s Day are federal holidays, so most nonessential personnel enjoy at least two locked-in vacation days.”Of course you need time to vacation. Many families do. Now with COVID not many people travel but you still can, you’ll just have to quarantine for two weeks when you get back, but with school online that’s no problem you can still go to school. 

    “The holidays are all about spending time with family and friends. With a longer holiday break, students get time to travel and spend time with family over the break. During Christmas, there are many religious celebrations that take place. Julie DeNeen, who has a degree in Clinical psychology and has worked in a Connecticut school district, says “Oftentimes holidays like Hanukkah are difficult for families because they are busy celebrating during a time when school is in session.” Hannaka Is also another major Holiday that starts before Christmas.All the kids that celebrate Christmas have a lot of time to spend with their families before the actual day, but all the kids that celebrate hanukkah have school through the whole holiday so they don’t have much time to enjoy it.

    ”Junior J.C. Feldman described his thoughts on having longer holiday breaks as “essential because everyone needs a break at some point in the year.” Feldman responded with his thought on having an undetermined date for the last day of school, “I like surprises so it’s nice.” I totally agree with him. I think there should be a big break within the school year so not including summer break. Everyone should have a break especially with the world now and online school for middle, high school, and college students. We all need that time to spend time with our family but instead we are stuck inside on a computer for school, for a very long time. I think that we deserve a longer winter break more than ever with all the online stuff.

    

    The other side argues that winter break should not be longer because if you have a longer winter break you’ll have a bit shorter summer break. The teachers have to teach the students certain subjects by the end of the year so having a longer winter break means a little bit of a shorter summer break. However a lot of students would like a longer winter break than summer, and it would only cut off probably like a week. I don’t think that it makes much of a difference. I think that it would be good to spend time with your family around this time. 

     Overall, I believe that now more than ever the students and staff all deserve a longer winter break. Maybe all the kids that want to have this longer break can all start a petition. Or contact the head of administers to go straight to the source and actually get what we want. A longer winter break. 

    

Work cited

(McGrew, Drey. “Why Winter Break Should Be Longe.” Southblueprint.com, 16 Dec 2019.) 

(“ Why Schools Break For Winter.” TheBestSchools.org, 23 March 2020.) 

( Tanner, Aubrey. “Why Winter Break Should Be Longer.” Binghamprospector.org, 20 Dec 2018.) 

(Brookes, Mary. “Are Longer School Breaks What Students Want?” Decaturhawk.com, 27 Sep 2019.)

Many young teens have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety in the past few months, over the last year, an increase of 1.5 million people have been diagnosed- and Covid-19 has a very big part in this all. For example, a line from the article, Is too much Homework Bad for Kids’ Health? states, “Research suggests that when students are pushed to handle a workload that’s out of sync with their development level, it can lead to significant stress — for children and their parents.” Also, No one can physically go to school, so we’re all doing online school. Not only does being online, staring at a screen for 5+ hours a day give young teens bad headaches and make them tired, it drains them mentally. Most teens also get an additional 2+ hours of online homework, on top of sports if they have it. Most teachers don't even ask about how their students are doing or offer help outside of school work, all they care about is the assignments that they give and when students turn them in; when in reality, most of their students are procrastinating, (not on purpose) crying, and getting anxiety attacks from the amount of homework they get. All of this leads to therapy and taking a break from school if necessary. This all proves that too much homework really is mentally bad for kids and doesn't really do anything but stress them out. However, I can see why teachers believe that homework is helpful and why they assign it, but it’s just too much for kids. Especially on top of online school, it's mentally draining for students. 

You may ask, what is the appropriate amount of homework students should get per night? Well, students should get 10 minutes of homework per grade and of course if you are in high school, you will get much more homework than elementary even though it is a fact that there is no evidence that homework in elementary does anything for students. Staying up late doing many assignments affects your performance in school. If you stay up until 2 am doing school work, then wake up at 7am for 8am class, then obviously you're going to be tired all day and it's going to be hard to concentrate. For example, from the article, Is too much Homework Bad for Kids’ Health? says, “The researchers asked students whether they experienced physical symptoms of stress, such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss, and stomach problems. More than 80 percent of students reported having at least one stress-related symptom in the past month, and 44 percent said they had experienced three or more symptoms.” Notice how one of the symptoms listed was sleep deprivation. Not only is this mentally bad for students but it is physically exhausting for them. This proves that too much homework truly is bad for teens and kids. This is a wake up call for parents. Parents have to realize how mentally drained their children are and try their best to do something about it. Teachers have to realize how much homework they’re really assigning and how students may react to the homework and how it may take a toll on students' mental/ physical health. 

In conclusion, teachers have to take their students into consideration more and understand how much they are doing and how they are doing. Obviously, there is no other option but online school due to Covid-19, but mental health is more important than school and students health needs to be taken seriously. 

The sun is shining

The leaves are a bright hue of green

The rain is almost as grand as the sky

The mud caused by the rain

Is a sticky glue that is in our every step

The trees are gradually healing their wounds from winter

The warm leaves with the many grooves in them

The birds chirping in the morning sun

I smell the wet grass

It’s almost raining

All across the sky

I adore spring

Beautiful weather

A mix of all the seasons

 

Well, Women are underestimated for their abilities in many ways. Sexism and motherhood can cause the pay gap between men and women. Traditionally, women did not work and earned very little money in jobs like secretaries, assistants, etc. 

Take a look at these shocking quotes/statistics from the New York Times, “women would need to work around 448 days to earn what men earn in just 365 days.” Motherhood also comes into play, “ Moms are less likely to be hired, they receive lower salaries when they are, and are less likely to be tapped on the shoulder for promotion.” Now, an outsider might think this is absurd, how can this be true? That is the world we live in. 

Recent times have made it even harder for women to get their proper pay. The pandemic has caused so much harm to the workplace, but for mothers needing to be at home with their children, time to work becomes a blessing. A quote from NPR shares the following about the situation,  “instead of shrinking, the gender wage gap will widen by five percentage points, so that the average female worker will earn about 76 cents for every dollar the average male worker makes.”

Someone might argue that women are less trustworthy with more important, official tasks. They might be good at the front desk, checking appointments, rather than a man. Small tedious tasks are what women work best with, they argue. They also believe that women have the tendency to need more time off, therefore proving to be less dedicated. 

However, we are all human, and a gender can’t depict our intelligence or willingness to work. If an employee is truly not a great worker, there should be consequences. However, if you immediately assume someone’s work ethic based on gender, it is wrong and unfair. Everyone deserves an equal chance, and those out there need to give them one.