Angelina VanderBeek

Mrs. Roskamp

LA, 8C

26 October 2015

My book is The Outsiders and the author is S.E Hinton. This book is a story about  a group of boys who are called greasers. Greasers are poorer people who usually don’t do well in school. There is a “war” between greasers and socs. Socs are the richer people who aren’t very nice to the greasers. The socs and greasers are always mean to each other. If there is a greaser walking by themselves then a car full of socs could come by and jump that soc. That  is what happened to Johnny and Ponyboy, two of the main characters of this book. The main theme of this book is to “Stay Gold.” This means staying young and innocent. The thing I learned from this book is that we can’t judge people for how rich or poor they are, and we should “Stay Gold”.

“Stay Gold” is a theme that is shown in many parts of the book. The first time the theme is told is when Johnny and Ponyboy are at the church. They go out and see how pretty the sunset is. Then Ponyboy starts quoting the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” The theme comes from that poem and the poem is even written in the book. While Johnny and Pony were out looking at the sunset it was a really comforting time for those two characters.

Another time where the theme is shown is when Johnny is dying. While Johnny is in the hospital he is very sick and keeps getting worse and worse. On the night after the rumble, Ponyboy and Dallas go to tell Johnny that the greasers won. While they were in Johnny’s room he dies. His last words were to Ponyboy and all he said was, “stay gold, Ponyboy.” Those words were really meaningful to Pony because Johnny became one of his best friends while they were at the church together. For Johnny to say those words to him right before he dies is really important to Pony.

The theme, stay gold, means staying young and innocent. In the book this was a very unique theme because where the book takes place it is very hard to be both young and innocent. By staying young and innocent people see the world in a different way and I think that is what the book was trying to get at. If we look at the world and what is going on in it with a good perspective, then we can really change the way other people look at the world. For example, in the book, after Johnny dies, Ponyboy finds a note in a book from Johnny. The note says that Johnny wants Ponyboy to show Dally a sunset, because it is a beautiful thing and then Dally would see that there is still good left in this nasty world. It was too late for Dally to see a sunset because he was already dead. So Ponyboy tries to tell the rest of the people, who are willing to listen, about staying gold by writing an essay for his English teacher.

The thing I learned from this book is that we can’t judge people for how rich or poor they are, and we should “Stay Gold”. I really liked reading this book. It was very interesting and there were a lot of changes in the book that I would never see coming. There were also a lot of good lessons to be learned from this book.

Angelina VanderBeek

Mrs. Roskamp

LA, 8C

10 September 2015

Descriptive Paragraph

The hourglass card reminds me of when my dad and brother went on a trip for three weeks this summer, that was a long time with no boys! This summer my dad and my brother went on a trip out west and up to Canada for three weeks. It felt like forever and it was so good! While they were gone my mom, sister, and I did a lot of fun stuff. We went to watch Inside Out in the Celebration Theatre at the Rivertown Mall. While we were in the mall we went to a restaurant and ate a sandwich with ranch oozing from it.  We also went to the Art Barn where I painted a soap container. Now when I wash my hands I look at the beautiful colors on the soap bottle. I also watched a lot of the women’s world cup while the guys were gone. It was fun watching the girls score and watching the US win it all! I could hear the intense cheering and music from the crowds. Overall I had lot of fun for those three weeks.

The suitcase card reminds me of when I was packing for a sleepover at Chloe’s house. Towards the end of summer chloe had a bunch of girls over for a sleepover. We went to street performers and all got henna. I could feel the brush tickling my skin when it was my turn to get my henna. We saw a lot of cool performances. We watched a really funny juggler while he juggled huge knives. When we got back to Chloe’s house we played extreme spoons. Extreme spoons is when someone hides the spoons in a room. Then you play normal spoons, but when someone gets up to get a spoon everybody tries to go find one. The intensity of that game is like a bomb about to burst. We “slept” in her trailer. we actually didn’t sleep at much, we just talked, played games, and ate all night.

The bell card reminds me of the two schools I went to for sport camps this summer. I did three different sport camps this summer. First I had basketball camp at Holland Christian. I had a lot of fun at that camp. I got to meet some of the girls that I will be going to Highschool with. This camp was the hardest one though. I could feel sweat dripping down every part of my body the whole time. The next camp I went to was the Holland Christian soccer camp. My favorite part of that camp was when we went to Pine Ridge to play foot golf. Foot golf is like golf but with bigger holes and you have to kick the soccer ball into the hole instead of with a golf club. The last camp I went to was the volleyball camp here at ZCS. This camp was really fun because I saw the radiant smiles and lovely faces of all my friends before school started and I knew everybody that was at the camp. We had a lot of fun and now I made the volleyball team so I am really happy about that.

Angelina Vanderbeek

Mrs. Roskamp

LA, 8C

16 September 2015

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.

Matthew 7:24-25

I think this verse is a really good theme for the 100th year. When we went to camp in 7th grade we really had to think about a theme that would have something to do with being a school for 100 years, so I think we chose the perfect theme. Our theme this year, “Built on the Rock”, means a lot to me as both an 8th grader at ZCS and as a Christian in the world.

I can use this verse a lot being the oldest in the school. Being an eighth grader here at ZCS I feel like I need to represent both “Built on the Rock” and being a school for 100 years. I feel really blessed that I can be the 100th class to graduate. It’s a lot of work being an 8th grader, because everyone is watching you in everything you do. I have to make sure I am being a good example to the younger grades. I want  kids to say, “ I wanna be like that 8th grader when I grow up.” This verse helps me remember that this school has been a school for 100 years because it was built on the Rock, and I think it is really important to remember that and to help the rest of the school remember. I hope I can show kids how to build their lives on the rock and not on the sand.

I can use this verse being a Christian in this world. Being a Christian in this world is tough sometimes. If you build your life on Jesus Christ the Rock then you will be able to get through all the tough stuff this world throws at you. This verse is about two people who were told to build their houses on the rock and not the sand. The one person heard this and acted, he built his house on the rock. The other person heard this and still built his house on the sand. When the rain fell and the streams rose, the person who built his house on the rock was safe and his house did not fall. The house that was built on the sand was knocked over and did not stand through the flood. This story reminds me that I can always hear what God wants me to do but what matters is if I do it or not. This verse is what every Christian needs in this world.

Vander Beek 2

Our theme this year, “Built on the Rock”, means a lot to me as both an 8th grader at ZCS and as a Christian in the world. This verse helps me remember that Christ is our Rock and we need to live on Him. I hope I can share this with the world and our school through my words and actions.