Post your response to EACH of the TWO questions below about your "Appetizers" and "Sides" choices by clicking the plus button below. by Mrs. Brinkmann

sashalukashchuk1225 — 2025-08-29 17:54:26 UTC

I learned from my appetizer choice, which was an AP article, that the president used a pocket recession to withhold 5 billion dollars worth of foreign aid without it going through the legislative branch. -Sasha L.

sashalukashchuk1225 — 2025-08-29 18:02:08 UTC

I chose the No Ordinary Joe essay, and I liked it because it really shows how good and selfless people can be during critical moments. -Sasha L.

2025-08-29 18:09:16 UTC

Appetizer - I learned that mental health is much more important then many people think. People may believe it's important, but I think that after reading this article, it is the most important thing to be watched over for anybody from a young age to the end of college. A 23 year old young man shot 116 rounds of bullets through a church at a Catholic School in Minnesota which killed 2 kids. One at the age of 8, and one at the age of 10. While this is very heartbreaking and sad for families, friends, and anyone who read about it, the family of the 10 year old girl explained how this should be an eyeopener to mental health issues. The shooter was a 23 year old, who was very ill. He had suicide notes which had hate pointed towards many different groups, and he also had many different people named on the notes. He had a suicide note to his family apologizing, and saying that he knows it's wrong, but that he couldn't help himself. I have learned that someone struggling with this much depression, and anxiety needs help, not just to help heal that person, but to also protect people around them so then something like this doesn't ever happen. The fact that he had many mental health issues will never make what he did okay, but it is a sign to everyone that people need help, and if that help isn't given, it will hurt a whole lot more people.

-Nick Travia

mlg291 — 2025-08-29 18:23:04 UTC

For my special, I chose Philips Biopic. I thought it was very boring, the music in the background did not seem to match the vibe of the video. The Video was about his life and when they were talking about him being a bodyguard in his early life there was some rock funky music playing which just didn't make sense. I also didn't find his life very intresting, they made normal types of relationships between family members try to seem very cool and not at all a normality

For My Appetizer I chose a news article about how a Police officer got arrested by Immigration Authorities even though the Governments system, E-verify had vetted him. E-Verify was created in 1986 when the Immigration Reform and Control act wss created. which involved making a large-scale immigration program that was necessary as in the same act of 1986 employers could no longer hire peopl ewho werent legally authorized to work in the Unites States.

2025-08-29 18:30:26 UTC

Side- For my side I chose, "No Ordinary Joe." I enjoyed it because it has sports in it. It is about a football player which is pretty cool. I enjoyed it because it was also about someone doing something heroic. It was engaging to read because it was about him giving his life to help others. There were three kids drowning in the water, and he knew at that instant that he wanted to try to save three lives. He ended up saving one, but he died and drowned only a few minutes after he made a decision to jump in to the water. That is something that will always be remembered, and he will be known as not just a great player, but one of the most heroic people to ever lay a foot on earth.

- Nick Travia

2025-08-29 21:34:44 UTC

I learned from my appetizer, an Associated Press article about the Minneapolis shooting on Wednesday, that mental health is an important aspect for pursuing a healthy and well lived life. In this case, the shooter had serious mental health problems that didn't make him feel any empathy and gave him the need to do horrible acts. Today, there are mental health classes that can help people through these things.

For my side, I read the essay "No Ordinary Joe", and I enjoyed it because it conveyed that not every rich person or famous person has to be a terrible person. Joe Delaney, the star running back for the Chiefs in the early 2000's, was a guy who never bought himself anything. He would always take any paycheck that he ever got and gave it to his wife. One day he hears calls for help when he was at the park and he goes to the rescue being the man he was, and when he got there, there were three boys drowning. He himself couldn't swim, but nevertheless, he jumped in to save them. In the end, he only saved one boy while in the process drowning himself. Overall, the essay was a moving experience and I would recommend it.

2025-08-29 23:28:28 UTC

Appetizer- For my appetizer, I think the main idea was that you cant be too quick to judge something. I read an article about the multiple shootings in Minnesota the past few weeks. There have been multiple shootings in the city leaving many people dead and injured. People assume that big cities are automatically very unsafe, and although crime rates are higher in major cities, you might be safer then you think. After multiple shootings in a short amount of time, residents in the area are saying "Even though we are in a big city. It could be a school in a small town" -Francoul, and "There are so many more good people then bad" -Rada. There are many more people who live in the area or near it, that still report after all the shootings continue to feel safe in their city. Gun violence is also becoming a big issue everywhere in the US, not just in cities. Like one person said, it could have been a school in a small town.

-Natalie Friend

kng291 — 2025-08-30 16:06:02 UTC

For my drink:

The article I read, "Minneapolis, a series of shootings and the grim realities of a tough summer” , emphasizes the brutal reality our country has become. Over the course of this summer, Minneapolis has faced numerous shootings and many children have either lost their lives or have been injured. The shooter has clear hate for all people and has attacked people of different races and religions. Even through all the chaos of hate and despair, Tess Rada, the mother of an 8 year old survivor in the shootings says, "There are so many more good people than bad people.” The main idea I think this article is trying to convey is in a world of hate, good will always persist. I think this article was not only meant to inform us on recent events, but also to give hope to the average reader that when something bad happens, we can rely on one another to make things right.

For my side:

I choose to watch the video memoir of Joan Ballard. I thought the video memoir was an insightful way of showing Joan’s legacy because unlike a book, it had direct narration which set the mood of Joan’s story. I enjoyed watching her memoir because I think it conveyed a lot about her life with a peaceful tone and it described her achievements and dreams which were interesting to learn about.

-Katie Gomez

2025-08-31 15:16:03 UTC

Side- For my side I read "No ordinary Joe" I liked this story because it is teaching people to be selfless and help others. The essay is about Joe Delaney, who was living the perfect life. He was playing pro football, rich, famous, and had a family. Even though everything was perfect for him he still cared about other people more then himself. He would help people in need, give paychecks to his wife, and he even saved a kid from drowning. The cost of him saving another kids life, was his own. Joe wasn't able to swim, but he tried to help save 3 kids from drowning anyways. He was only able to save one of them, but while doing that, his selflessness took his own life but saved another's. This story is very moving because it is about the heroic things people do to help others when no one else will.

-Natalie Friend

pnn80 — 2025-09-01 15:24:33 UTC

For my drink I selected to answer the main idea of the news article I read about the airstrike in Gaza that killed 31 people. The main idea was really just explaining how many scholars are publicly declaring what is happening in Gaza as a genocide and obviously part of the main idea was the Airstrike as well.

For my sides selection I chose to read three political cartoons from the website “POLITICO.” It was an interesting read and showed a comedic side of representing real world issues and usually serious topics. I enjoyed it because of its natural lightheartedness but also keeping people aware of the worlds current problems.

guyinchair — 2025-09-01 16:41:40 UTC

For my drink, I chose to read the article from AP titled "Earthquake in eastern Afghanistan destroys villages and kills 800 people, with 2,500 injured". The main idea in the article I wrote is the absence of help and support in the affected area. Many citizens are dying and cannot receive search and rescue help or medical attention simply due to their location within the country, and the absence of a sufficient amount of first responders.

For my side, I chose to read three political cartoons from the source "US News and World Report". I enjoyed reading these political cartoons, and I find that it is extremely helpful to allow anyone to develop a point of view from a simple and comical cartoon. Although they're interesting and entertaining to read, they shouldn't be the only source that people receive regarding news, as it can often be leaning into one or another political point of view.

stk291 — 2025-09-01 18:11:17 UTC

For my drink I am writing about one thing I learned when reading a article from the Associated press called what will college football look like in ten years? Massive changes loom. One thing I learned while reading this article was there have been multiple attempts to reconstruct college football into a super league. One of these attempts was called college sports tomorrow and would have taken the top 70 teams in college football and combined them into a NFL style league. The other of the two projects was project Rudy. According to Yahoo sports a group of investors had $9 billion ready to invest to drive a $15 billion increase in media revenue. But a move like this could break antitrust laws. And this could have lead to the complete break up of the NCAA.

For my side I decided to read No ordinary Joe. I enjoyed this story because it was someone doing something good. The story of Joe Delaney was running back for the chiefs on the rise. In his rookie year he won offensive rookie of the year and was a pro bowler. And then one day he found himself at Chennault Park where he saw three kids drowning. Joe who had never learned to swim selflessly jumped into the water to try and save the drowning kids. and his selflessness saved one of the three children the two others and himself drowned. While this is a sad story I enjoyed it because it teaches us a lesson on how we can do more to help others. I don't mean jump into water to save drowning people if you cannot swim but doing little things to help people.

-Steven Kajunski

bg62_2 — 2025-09-01 21:36:41 UTC

For my appetizer choice I read a news article named "New Jersey’s massive American Dream mall sued for selling clothes on a Sunday". It talked about how there was blue laws that were placed in older times for religious reasons. They outlawed the sale of nonessential items including clothing, appliances and furniture on Sundays. Bergen County, where the American Dream mall is located, is one of the few places in the state that still enforce these laws. When a report had come up of retailers actually ignoring and violating these rules for nearly a year, a lawsuit was quickly followed up.

adv291 — 2025-09-02 00:12:49 UTC

For my drink, i chose to answer one thing I learned about my news article. The article was titled "North Koreas Kim Jong Un travels to Beijing to watch military parade alongside Putin and Xi Jinping." In this article I learned that the 3 Leaders were meeting up to watch an 80th anniversary parade about the Chinese people's fight against Japans wartime aggressions.

For my special, I chose to read the personal essay "No Ordinary Joe." I chose this option because it did not have much to the title so i didn't know what to expect going into it. The personal essay was detailed and engaging to read but had a sad theme to it. there were some good aspects and storytelling in the essay so i did enjoy reading it.

2025-09-02 15:19:55 UTC

For my side i chose "No Ordinary Joe" i liked the story because of how heroic he was putting other people's lives over his own which is telling people to put others first and teaching people to be selfless. The story is about a guy named Joe Delaney, who was a pro football player, had a good family, rich, and famous. Even though he was living the perfect life he still looked out for other people even more than himself and it ended up costing his life. Joe couldn't swim but went to save a kid he saved the child but he didn't make it. The story is telling us to help others when they need help because nobody else might.

2025-09-02 20:29:43 UTC

For my drink i read an article "Earthquake in eastern Afghanistan destroys villages and kills 800 people, with 2,500 injured" the main idea of this article is that in some places in the world theres less people to help during serious situations. The people where dying and severely injured but there was not many people to help so majority of people where left to die.

2025-09-02 21:10:02 UTC

I read three more recent political cartoons and they all focus on gun control in America. and the main idea of the article I read was regarding the recent assassination of Andriy Parubiy who was a speaker of the Ukranian pairlament

bg62_2 — 2025-09-04 00:31:03 UTC

For my side option, I chose to read the personal essay, Mother Tongue. The author describes her mother's English as something she grew up with, and so she was ashamed of calling it "broken". I did actually enjoy this essay because I could kind of relate. Although my parents' English is good and perfectly understandable, English is their second language, so they have an accent. I also enjoyed reading about the author's accomplishments as a writer and how she proved everyone wrong.

2025-09-04 21:27:05 UTC

I read three more recent political cartoons and they all focus on gun control in America, this topic has gained more relevance recently because of the recent mass shooting in Minnesota. Most of the political cartoons made statements satirizing some politicians opposition to stricter gun control laws.

2025-09-04 21:34:35 UTC

for my drink I read an article about the recent assassination of Andriy Parubiy, who was a speaker for the Ukrainian parlament. I learned that although the motive for his assassination is still being investigated, it is still possible that it may have had some Russian involvement. The main idea of the text was regarding his death and funeral.