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Student’s Writings

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Student's Writings
February 19, 2023

AWOL…the two students who sit to your immediate left and right have gone missing. Help us find them. Chase fears he may be responsible, given that this is not the first time his next door neighbors have disappeared. His dialogue with the cops is classic. AWOL I walk into the school, my stomach churning at the thought of having to watch the news. I wish I could just disappear for today, go AWOL, and not have to watch the news. Too bad Mr. Tom would make me fetch a switch if I skipped. When I enter, I see the usual sights. E is sitting by the door playing football on his phone, Danny is looking up quantum computers, Rhys isn’t here yet, like usual, and Jayla is also missing, which is weird. She’s usually early, making Mr. Tom his five cups of coffee. I shake Mr. Tom’s hand and sit down at my seat. I do the attendance at 7:45. I’m here, Karla still isn’t here, E is here, Madison is here, Hector is here, Danny is here, Ethan is here, Kendall is here. But Rhys isn’t here, and Jayla isn’t here either. Mmmmmm. Guess who’s gonna be on the homework list today! Rhys comes in at 7:50. Dang, that’s early for him. The entire day goes by and neither Karla nor Jayla show up. They didn’t even text. Mmmmm. Mr. Tom gives us another one of those super serious talks about following the honor code and showing up every day, on time, and calling the school if you can’t make...

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Student's Writings
February 19, 2023

FAB FOURS…life is full of great foursomes. Some might even grow in your backyard. Kendall literally personifies the life of that rarest (and luckiest) of foursomes. FAB FOURS It gets hard being this liked. I have a whole holiday based on me. I’m just “that” girl. People have been looking for me for years, but you'll never find me unless you have spectacular luck. I may not be a flower but boy, do I have power. If you haven’t guessed already, let me tell you who I am. I’m a clover. Green and clean, kind of mean. I'm a clover, but not one of those three leaf dirty clovers. I’m a Four-leaf clover. You know the name and don’t wear it out. BACK TO THE REAL LIVES OF PLANTS… So over here in Plantville, these weeds and dirt eaters are trying to tell me that I'm too cocky and I'm not down to earth enough. Like how are you gonna tell me I’m not down to earth enough when I’m on earth? Girl, I literally am the Earth. But anyways, other than that mess I have just been chilling. You know, blowing in the wind, eating well, and just doing me. I don’t know why these other plants hate on me when they know they wanna be me. Like, make it make sense! Imma give y'all a little tour of my 10.5 million dollar house. So up here is my shower because you know I don’t wanna be out here smelling like mulch. Right here is my Fenty beauty chloroplast spritz....

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Student's Writings
December 16, 2022

The students were tasked to enter one of three doors, marked YESTERDAY, TODAY, or TOMORROW. YESTERDAY would allow them to experience any historical event, but not change the outcome. TODAY would place them in the middle of any current event. And TOMORROW would take them forward 12 years to celebrate what would then be Mr. Tom’s 80th Birthday. CHASE skips ahead to find Mr. Tom having finally succumbed to the virtual world. VR Golf at 80 “Take those ugly, good for nothing, spawn of the devil himself goggles off, Chase!” Mr. Tom demanded. I look at him through my virtual reality goggles. “But, Mr. Tom! You know my eyes hurt when I’m not wearing them. Ugh, the real world is sooo boring too!” I groan. “Back in my day, we ain’t have no fake reality goggles.” “Mr. Tom, your days were the 1960s. Things have changed now. This is the new norm.” “Ain’t nothing ‘normal’ about living your entire life in a fake, dream world where nothing matters.” He fires back. “It is normal, though. You get used to it!” I tell him. “You do get used to it, just like how an addict gets used to crack. You’re more addicted to your virtual reality than a crack addict is in a world where crack is free.” “Dang Mr. Tom. You didn’t have to go that far. I could stop anytime I wanted to. I just don’t wanna stop!” “Sure thing, bud. Just don’t come running back to me when your obsession eventually overwhelms you, and you are slowly consumed by virtual reality until it takes control of every...

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Student's Writings
December 2, 2022

The students were tasked to enter one of three doors, marked YESTERDAY, TODAY, or TOMORROW. YESTERDAY would allow them to experience any historical event, but not change the outcome. TODAY would place them in the middle of any current event. And TOMORROW would take them forward 12 years to celebrate what would then be Mr. Tom’s 80th Birthday. JAYLA feels the pain of slavery and meets a woman called Minty. A Woman Called Minty I open the door to Yesterday. I walk through and it feels like I’m falling until, suddenly, I slam into the ground. I look around and see nothing but African Americans being whipped, people crying out, others picking cotton. Suddenly, a huge force connects with my face. I cry out in pain only to be hit again. The brutal force inflicted on me left me extremely confused. After a while, the hits stopped, and the white man walked off. My body ached. The amount of pain was enough to make someone want to end their life. “Get up” a woman said. “Get to work before he brings more.” The woman walked off and went back to doing the tasks given to her. I managed to sum up enough energy to get close to her. I started picking cotton as well, my body still burning from the punishment before. “Where am I?” I asked “Dorchester County” the woman said “W-What’s your name?” I asked the woman “Minty” she said. “Stop talking before you get us both whipped or worse...

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Student's Writings
December 2, 2022

The students were tasked to enter one of three doors, marked YESTERDAY, TODAY, or TOMORROW. YESTERDAY would allow them to experience any historical event, but not change the outcome. TODAY would place them in the middle of any current event. And TOMORROW would take them forward 12 years to celebrate what would then be Mr. Tom’s 80th Birthday. DANNY takes us into the bizarre 9th Century papal synod of a cadaver. The Cadaver Synod I’m walking down a long, paved road in the countryside, where each house and patch of land is so very separate from another. I go off to a trail, where the trees are marked with crimson stripes of paint, and I arrive at a cave with distinct graffiti on it. I walk into the cave, compelled by boredom. Surrounded by darkness, I use my phone as a flashlight. After a certain point of depth into this cave, I see architecture and artifacts of which I’ve never seen before. I find artifacts of great technology, almost as If crafted by gods. Things that I cannot begin to comprehend are scattered throughout. I arrive at a room with three doors, all of which have symbols over top of them. Not knowing what each of these doors represent, I reluctantly search the cave for some sort of hint or translation for the symbols. I find 3 tablets, one of which is broken, but the two are in a language I’ve never seen before. From then I connect the dots that this language is very similar to Cuneiform, and I spend several...

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Student's Writings
November 21, 2022

Hector takes his blessings for granted, until an all-too-real dream of being homeless, cold and hungry makes him appreciate what he has. Homeless for Thanksgiving I went to bed after arguing with my mom about why the food was not ready. I woke up, lying on the ground somewhere in downtown Baltimore, with a blanket covering me in the freezing cold, my stomach empty and growling. I was so confused about what had happened. I was just in my room a second ago, comfortable, and warm. The cold became so unbearable, and my hunger got so bad that I could not sleep at all the whole night. As the sun came up the next morning, I had no money so I had to start asking for anything so that I could get food. I asked many people; some were kind and others were rude and told me to get a job. At the end of the day, I had enough money to get myself a McChicken from McDonald’s and that was the best tasting meal ever. But I regretted arguing with my mom over how the food was not ready, and I missed all of the things that I had. I took so many things for granted—my bed, my room, a warm shower, having somewhere to stay and call home. As night came, I tried to find somewhere to sleep. I found a place and laid down. I tried to go to sleep wishing that I could return to how things used to be. When I woke back up, I was in...

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Student's Writings
November 21, 2022

Bre reminds us that family is what makes life complete. “Without them, every day I would be homeless.” Homeless for Thanksgiving Many have a different definition of what “homeless” means. Some feel like being homeless means not having a home. Some feel like being homeless is not having a place to stay and rest. Personally, I believe being homeless means not having a family. You may think it's odd, but when I’m not with people I call family, I feel out of place, like I don't belong. Family is the key to a home. When I go home, the first thing I see is my cat, but I call her my daughter. She stays in the basement, but once she hears the keys touching the door, she runs so fast upstairs to greet whoever is opening it. Greeting them with a loving nose rub and purring, even if she doesn’t know you. One day, if I were to open the door, and she wasn’t there, it simply wouldn’t feel like home. Running behind me is my little brother, who’s an Ipad kid. Watching YouTube loudly, purposely trying to annoy me, but I’m used to it. Once he puts the Ipad down, he asks for a snack, and I always have to confirm if he can have it, with my mother who was following behind him as he ran into the house. Once I confirm, he eats the snack while again playing his loud video on his Ipad, laughing and teasing me to try and annoy me. I can’t imagine a...

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Student's Writings
November 16, 2022

Rhys manages to tell his story with an eclectic array of touchstones, from “The Little Engine That Could” to Arnold Schwarzenegger to NBA YoungBoy and even Liz Truss. BELIEVING IN YOURSELF I believe everyone grew up with a favorite cartoon or tv show. One of my favorites was Thomas the Tank Engine. He always believed he can, he can, he can. I always believed I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. Anything that was remotely challenging in my life, I would just give up. One day, I was hanging out with my dad and he asked me to move some furniture. I don’t know why he asked a ten-year old whose arms were weaker than Liz Truss’s financial plan to move furniture. I accepted anyway, and we began to move the end table next to our couch and it was easy. It gave me a little confidence boost. We got onto this piano in the dining room and, thankfully, it had some wheels, so we were good. The last thing was the shelf that stored all my dad’s records. Every shelf was stocked with records. I had to get every single one off the shelf and then move the shelf with him. Who does my dad think I am: Arnold Schwarzenegger? The Rock? I thought we could do it because we moved those other things with ease. But no matter how hard we tried, that thing wouldn’t move an inch. Who knew that IKEA furniture was so heavy? Every time we got IKEA furniture, the thing would collapse like...

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Student's Writings
November 16, 2022

Kendall takes us back to the bad old days of COVID and her mom’s clever ploy to help Kendall successfully pass the 6th Grade, her “hardest school year ever.” BELIEVING IN YOURSELF The 6th grade was the hardest school year ever. The beginning of that school year I started out strong, but it didn’t last. I was suspended. That was bad, but low and behold, I was about to be in for a really rude awakening. One Thursday in March, everyone was sent home for the next two years. I was suspended already so I couldn’t even empty my locker or get my work or even say goodbye. I just had to deal with it. Most days during virtual learning I was either asleep or just didn’t sign on. In the beginning, the teachers would call my mom every day, but after a while no one was showing up to class, not even the teachers sometimes. On top of that, a majority of the days I was home alone, which meant why should I even sign on? Who’s going to know if  I do or don’t? So I didn’t. This became a constant cycle for me. If I didn’t go to class, I couldn’t do my work. If the work is not done, it wouldn’t get done. End of the year rolled around and I got an email stating that if you have three failing grades, you fail. My heart sank. All of my grades were failing. I looked at my missing assignments and something just clicked in my head. I ended...

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Student's Writings
October 5, 2022

The students recently attended the current Center Stage production of the iconic play, “Our Town.” Their subsequent Creative Writing topic: “My Town” wherein “their town” might be a city, a neighborhood, a room, or a state of mind. Here is Danny’s thoughtful essay. MY TOWN My town is my room. I don’t really do things outside like most kids in my age range. Because of this, I don’t know any streets or any people in my neighborhood. My room suffices as a town in my opinion. It’s where I do everything I like. It’s where I read Manga, where I look into philosophy, where I eat, where I sleep, and where I watch videos. It’s ironic in a way. Because of social media, people’s “worlds” have become smaller. They have access to limitless communication and knowledge of the world at the touch of a button. In some ways, this is negative. I am no different. My town isn’t special. Like many other “towns,” it has a bed, television, a dresser and closet to store your clothes, and a gaming console if you’re interested in that. On my window sill, I have many books. On my dresser I have miscellaneous items like a blacklight, usually my keys, and a spare charger. I have cards for various events and celebrations, mostly from past birthdays, but some from graduations. On my TV stand there are many video games that I don’t play very often, and my town has windows that I rarely ever look out of during the day. I only ever...

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