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Sunday, January 20, 2019

Week 20 Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It's cold outside! And so, with much deliberation, GES will be closed tomorrow Monday, January 21. The MLK  celebration will take place, so please bring your family and join with our Lewisburg community in honoring this great man. Three of our students will be reading their essays, and I'm sure they'll appreciate the support of their friends. The march begins at 11:00 am at the courthouse with lunch ($5) at 11:30 followed by the program at 12:30. This all takes place at Lewisburg United Methodist Church in downtown Lewisburg. I hope to see many of you there.


The Galaxy students certainly rose to the occasion and composed well written, thoughtful essays for the MLK essay contest which was open to Greenbrier and Monroe county students. They responded to this quote from Letter from Birmingham Jail: "Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly". I also assigned an article that was posted in the New York Times at the time of Dr. King's death. The students were to read it, choose an appropriate theme, find words, phrases, and quotes that exemplified their theme, find a symbol, and put all of this together in a visible display. I'm sharing these symbols with a part of each student's essay. I've included them at the end of this post. Take your time to enjoy them and realize that we are raising up a generation of responsible and caring citizens.


Mr. Graves has been busy planning our end of the year trip. He is putting together the itinerary which I will share as soon as it is finalized.  The trip dates are Friday, May 17 - Sunday, May 19. We will visit Jamestown, Williamsburg, and Busch Gardens. Chaperones are Birch, Keri, Tanya, and me. If anyone else would like to join us, please let me know asap. Any additional chaperones must pay in full for their trip. The projected expenses are as follows:

$60 for Busch Gardens ticket 
(needs to be paid to GES by Friday, Feb 2)

The remaining expenses for the trip will be paid for by the existing fundraising, plus an additional $600 to be raised before trip.

Expect an estimated $75-90 for meals on the trip to be paid by each individual. Adding in the $60 Busch Gardens ticket, this puts the expense for this trip at about $150/person, not including spending money.


This week the Galaxy will continue working on research papers, play with more Punnett squares, and take a citizenship test. Please have your child show you his google calendar so that you know what's going on and what's coming up. I hope to take the class to the public library Friday morning. The students like working there. It's a nice, quiet time.



MLK Essays 2019







A Lasting Effect

My belief of this phrase is that if you do or say something to someone it could have a good or bad long lasting effect on the person and the people around... People who practiced slavery directly affected the people who were enslaved. They made them feel like they were lesser people... In the end I feel that people who practiced slavery made themselves the lesser people.

Mason Jones 6th Grade, 3rd place










Cause and Effect

Just be nice to people because it makes no sense when we all hurt each other. We could have a much better world if people got along and believed others. The world would have peace and there would be no hungry people if we helped each other out. What is a vacation home worth if ten thousand people die? Our world isn't amazing, but we can make it that way.

Julia Troyer 6th Grade, 2nd place











King of Hope

The hope he provided made a huge influence on everyone who has heard him. He believed that if you don't stand up for other people's rights, then maybe no one will stand up for yours. It's hard work that gets us the freedom that we have now, though even in present day not everyone sees through people's skin color. And so, these are the reasons why Martin Luther King Jr. is both my hero and my inspiration. He is truly a fire that still flickers today. a King of Hope.

Casey Bair 6th Grade, 1st place






Actions Speak Louder Than Words

He desired that people would not be judged, mistreated, or segregated. Because Martin Luther King Jr. thought all people were connected, he believed if one thing happened across the world it would alter the other side. Take the Titanic for example. When it hit the iceberg on one side, it didn't just make that side go down, the whole ship went down. If the people on the side that didn't get hit didn't worry that they would go down, they were wrong. In the end the whole ship did go down, not the one side, but the whole ship.

Mary Johnson 7th Grade, 1st place











Contagion of Ideas

Contagion is spreading from person to person at close interaction. Just like viruses ideas can spread the same. This is just what Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in "Letter from a Birmingham Jail". MLK, Ruby Bridges, and Rosa Parks. These are people who used contagion for their ideas. By standing out one puts himself on the spot, and people on the spot have followers, and followers are inspired by them, and that's when ideas spread.

Ian Lowthorp 7th Grade, 2nd place






"Whatever Affects One Directly Affects All Indirectly"

This statement "Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly" inadvertently mean that we're all connected in one way or another. We all play a part in the big picture. For example, when I help my mom with bee keeping, I may only be participating in a small process but once the honey is all collected and put together, we take it to the Farmer's Market and share it with the community. The small steps used to produce the finished product add up to one big outcome which always allows the community to reap the benefits of our work.

Cody Wood 7th Grade, 3rd place



"Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly"

I agree with MLK that everyone should be treated fairly no matter what religion, race, or gender. Sadly, not everyone is treated equally. Many people treat others like they are lesser than them to make them feel inferior just for their own self gain. How is that fair!? A large amount of people are bullied every day... No kid deserves to be bullied or to be treated like they are lesser than anyone else. We are all equal one way or another. Doctor King was someone who saw that and fought for that equality.

Victoria Arce 8th Grade, 2nd place





You Are One of Many

Millions of people live by this philosophy; the idea of connection that runs through all people despite race, religion, or ideals is priceless. Sadly, that has not been realized. Millions more don't think about the civil or human rights of others. We live in a world of technology and discovery, yet we don't realize the impact of this on the minority. Where most thrive, others face the reality of hunger, poverty, and trafficking. Even Mother Nature suffers from our actions. While the reality of equity and equality is enchanting and well desired, at the state the world is facing, it is virtually impossible.

Maxine Casto 8th Grade




Aware

Some people ask: What do you want to be when you grow up? My response: Someone who changes the world. My inspirations are people like Martin Luther King Jr., Malala Yousafzai, Michelle Obama, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Ghandi. If we could all change the world for good, just a little bit each, imagine what a kind world it would be. Where do I imagine the world in ten years? I imagine it changed for the better, overflowing with respect, equality, kindness and-most importantly-love. If Martin Luther King Jr. can change the world, so can we. All we have to do is be aware, aware of our duty to humanity. So try it, try being aware. If you start now, imagine the ripple we can make.

Indigo Graves 8th Grade







M.L.K.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott started with only one person but many would become involved because of one singular person. It is absolutely amazing how one person's choice can change everything. Rosa Parks' decision would trigger the minds of others on how it was such a major issue that this was at the current time. Even through our modern society this issue is still occurring today. Racism is becoming less of an issue because people have given their respect to all ethnicities of people (and still are continuing up to this day).

Jada Church 8th Grade













A Man Who Changed the World

"Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly." Martin Luther King Jr. was the most important voice of the American Civil rights Movement which worked for equal rights for all. He was famous for using nonviolent resistance to overcome injustice, and he never got tired of trying to end segregation laws, laws that prevented African Americans from entering certain places such as restaurants, hotels, and public schools.

Jordan Wood 8th Grade














What Affects Some Affects All

I like to think that the human race is a pond. When a disturbance happens it sends ripples that hit everywhere in the pond. The outermost sides of the pond are almost unaffected while the place where the ripple started is drastically thrown about. Martin Luther King was a brave man and took the first non-violent, and most effective, step to changing all of us. We are all facing problems in the world. What will you do to make it a more peaceful place?

Ian Burford 8th Grade






I'm honored to be a part of our future leaders' lives.

Mrs. J



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