Tales of Tenth Grade

As of October 1st the law passed in May of 2019 allowing Florida teachers to carry firearms in the classroom has now been taken into effect. The law was passed in response to the shooting that took place last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Despite being enacted, only 11 school districts has resorted to arming teachers. Which evokes the question do people agree that this is the best way to ensure the safety of students? Is putting guns in classrooms protecting students from potential acts of violence or is it just generating further problems? Bay County Schools Superintendent Bill Husfelt states “we don't look at it as we want more guns, we look at it as we want more protection.” But are guns the best way to add protection? New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo thinks that guns are not the solution. He signed a bill preventing New York school districts from arming teachers. Governor Cuomo believes that  “the answer to the gun violen...

October 22, 2019 is a very sad day for the world. Chris the sheep, who was first found by bush walkers in the wilderness has died. Chis had been struggling to live with all that wool blocking his legs from moving very well. He kinda stood there resembling a cloud. A very funny image. But he was struggling so he was sheared right after he was found. The shearing took up to 45 minutes resulting in about 90 POUNDS OF WOOL. A world record. His wool was donated to the Museum of Australia. Now the world record braking sheep has passed on. However, the sheep growing so much wool may not have been too crazy. Domestic sheep keep on growing their wool because it constantly gets sheared. They don't shed it like wild sheep do, it needs to be sheared off. Chris must have been a domestic sheep that got out of his flock and was just wandering around for 5 years becoming more and more like a walking cloud. Or he was a wild sheep that just has the same sorta gene that the domestic ones have...

In the struggling depths of Gotham City, there was no order. Arthur Fleck was reduced to less than mankind. He lost his job and eventually his mind, and this is what led him to turn to murder. Come the release of the film, there was a mutter; twelve people were murdered during "The Dark Knight Rises." Twenty twelve was the year the killers were masked with disguises. Who is going to let there be another? Terrorists threats online lead way to a panic. From New York to LA, the movies won't be the same. To beef up security, that is the aim, and to ensure there will be no acts that are satanic.  Fleck's impersonator voiced, "I think it's really good ... when movies ... challenge us ...." Many people forget the tragedy that happened. Twelve people lost in this cinematic trap, and why is mental health too difficult for us to discuss? We are blind. We feel no sympathy for those who have gone. One says, " To me, it was j...

In May, a herd of 500 goats was hired to save the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library from California wildfires. This might sound crazy, but it's true. These goats were tasked with clearing flammable shrubs around the library in order to protect it. So, when the Easy Fire approached the library, the goats were called. According to Melissa Giller, a library spokeswoman, "We were told by one of the firefighters that they believe that [a brake in the fire caused by the goats] made their job possible ."  The goats ate all of the brush, slowing down the advancement of the fire and giving the firefighters the time they needed to save the library. These goats, so with comedic names such as Vincent van Goat, Selena Goatmez, and Goatzart, were crucial in saving monumental exhibits such as a decommissioned Air Force One jet and a piece of the Berlin Wall. While this may just seem like a comedic news story, the use of goats to slow or even stop forest fires is now being seriously ex...

Earlier today a train in Pakistan travelling from the Karachi to Rawalpindi and all of a sudden, the train caught fire. According to BBC News, at least 74 people have already died and at least 40 more were injured. The cause of this saddening accident is still uncertain, but there are two theories about the cause of the fire; a gas cylinder being used to make breakfast exploded, second, there were electrical problems leading up to the fire. According to the article, three carriages caught fire and there were 54 people in the 11th carriage and both the 12th and 13th carriages had 78 people on board. Although 74 people died in this fire, about 96 people out of the 210 in the three carriages were able to escape the fire unharmed. Also, the article states that a man named Ghaffar claims that the rescue teams got there very late. If this is true, then many more lives could have been saved if the rescue teams had gotten there earlier. According to a website titled geo.tv, there have be...

October 29 Okay, so hear me out. You may be thinking "this is definitely not a current event", but trust me, I got permission for this (thanks Mrs. Kopp). But yes, this is more of a "hot topic" than a current event. Also, everyone else is doing a serious, and occasionally depressing current event topic, so I thought "Hey, why not lighten the mood?" Anyways, I've been coming across tons of videos in my recommended feed on YouTube involving Bill Hader. And I know that I'm not alone. I've seen a bunch of comments on skits he's done saying things like "I've been getting a lot of Bill Hader in my recommended, and I'm not even mad about it." (As in they find him to be hot. This is obvious. Why am I adding this as an extra note? Hello?) Now, if you've been living under a rock for years, you're probably wondering who Bill Hader even is. Well, first off, you've probably seen at least something he's done, wh...

After nine intense years of searching and fighting, the most wanted man in the world, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is declared dead after a US raid.  Baghdadi, a very devout Islamic follower, emerged in 2010 as the leader of ISIS, which is a prominent religious terrorist group.  Since then, has ISIS controlled an area of land that was equivalent in size to Great Britain, and has been launching terrorist attacks throughout the world. However, the strength of ISIS appears to be diminishing.  I have heard of many ISIS attacks on the news before and I was surprised that Baghdadi was finally killed.  This was surprising to me since Baghdadi is always on the move and has been falsely declared dead several times before.  However, DNA testing has confirmed that Baghdadi's death is the real thing, thus spiking my interest even further. From an American viewpoint, this fact is very exciting.  But, after further research and reading, it is also terrible.  Trump has co...

Just for a moment, I would like you to think about a few things you witness or see on a daily basis that seem like a problem. Maybe this problem is few students arguing in the hallway, or perhaps it is one of your classmates constantly disrespecting a teacher. Of course, there are occasionally larger issues we experience, but for most of us it is not everyday that we are coming face to face with any major life implications.  This is, in part, due to the lack of inequality we are exposed to day after day. Unfortunately, even though we don’t tend to see it ourselves on a regular basis, inequality does affect so many others, regarding gender, race, economic situations, and so much more. Living in the area we do, some of this equality issues don’t implicate or appear in our everyday lives, and many of us unaffected don’t realize how relevant they are in other places all over the world.  The way I’ve been taught it, inequality seems like an issue that...

When the last days of September have finally come to an end, amidst the new wave of Halloween themed content and distressing news cycles, one might take notice of a sudden influx of black and white doodles in the feeds of their social media platforms. Inktober has arrived. This fall has so far certainly been an eventful one, but one occurrence that was definitely not a surprise was the resurrection of the online art tradition. Inktober, an annual challenge to complete an ink drawing every day of October, has been going on since 2009, gathering participants of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds. Over the years Inktober has grown in recognition and has come to encapsulate the vast community of people who post art online. While the original challenge was generally followed with confines to traditional ink drawings posted daily, the popularity of the challenge and scrutiny of the added pressure it puts on artists in an all ready very competitive space has lead to it becoming...

          Who am I to think my political opinions matter to others? To be honest, I do not and I am only writing about this topic potentially find some common ground with others. Please, let me be clear: this post is not to shame anyone with different viewpoints. You are entitled to disagree with me on anything you please. Please know, I respect you.           If you knew me before I attended Sparta High School, you would know that I had some opinions that were rather controversial, to put it lightly. I lacked the self-awareness to see how what I would say impacted others. Like many others, I grew up in a Republican, Christian, and conservative household. Naturally, I would end up in the same way. However, as a seventh-grade child in my civics class, I pretended to know everything there was to know about politics, religion, and other subjects I simply could not have had a grasp on. I had this overwhelming sense of pride in my beliefs/co...

On October 12th, 2019 what was thought to be impossible was done. Eliud Kipchogen broke the 2-hour mark for completing a marathon. He crossed the finish line in at an astonishing time of 1:59:40! For centuries, the 2-hour mark had defined what is possible and what was classified as impossible in marathon running. It has been a barrier that no one was able to break through until Kipchogen. In order to brake such a prestigious milestone, everything had to be perfect: the course, the weather, the pacing, everything. This race was extremely calculated and laid out perfectly to break the 2-hour mark. It was in Vienna, Austria. on the longest and flattest stretch of road, that this accomplishment was achieved. In front of Kipchogen, there was a car that projected lasers on to the ground to set the pace. This was in addition to the six other pacer runners that ran with Kipchogen and who were switched out periodically. If he was going to beat the mile-stone, his pacing was crucial. He h...