1. The use of skateboards/long boards around campus and how many people use them as transportation. Also how the school is trying to ban the use of the skateboards and long boards.
2. The use of free give aways (i.e. T-shirts, food). If people are giving away free stuff more people tend to come and participate or listen to what they are saying even if they are not interested.
3. The spread of the Swine Flu and how the school is trying to prevent it from spreading even more.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Memoir: The Columbine High School Shootings
I woke up early in the morning to get ready for a regular day in 3rd grade at Cottonwood Creek Elementary School in Englewood, Colorado. It seemed like a normal April day in Colorado in 1999, the weather was crisp, cool, and it was dark in the morning. I get to school and my teacher was especially in a good mood that morning as she had bought us some breakfast and drinks. My first class was the same as every other day that year; we did some reading and practiced our cursive writing. The classroom was bright with the sun just coming up shining through our windows with the snowy tops of the Rocky Mountains in the background. Everyone was in a good and cheerful mood; the day could not have started any better, but things changed dramatically in the middle of my second class of the day.
We were in the middle of doing some math problems and practicing our division when the principal of my elementary school came on the loud speaker and said, “Good morning everyone, I have some sad news today. There has been a shooting at Columbine High School, so we will be on lock down for the rest of the day.” After hearing the news everyone in the room, including the teacher, gasped in shock and fear. The room suddenly became quiet as we all were worried and struck with fear. When a school goes on lock down, it means that no one can come in or out of our school. Columbine High School was only a few miles from my elementary school, so every school in the county was on lock down for the rest of the day. We all knew instantly that this was bad and we all became worried. After the announcement by the principal all the teachers in my grade started talking and whispering between each other about what was happening and what to do. One teacher asked the other teachers, “What should we do?” Another teacher then said, “We should probably check to see if all the doors are locked and then close all the windows and shades.” They talked between themselves for a few more minutes and then acted. They went around to all the classrooms in my grade to close all the windows and shades and make sure all the outside doors were locked. It became a very dark and quiet place all of a sudden, no one liked this. The sun was no longer shining through our windows as we could no longer see the sun because of the dark clouds and the closed shades. What was a great and beautiful day, turned out to be a terrible and horrifying day for all of us. The teachers could see the fear in our faces and eyes and they kept reassuring us by saying, “Do not worry kids, everything is going to be fine. You are all safe here.” We believed what they said but we were still worried. My friend then turned to me and asked me, “What would happen if the shooter comes to our school?” “I do not know,” I replied fearfully, hoping that it would never happen. Some time later some police cars pulled up and surrounded our school and the street. They wanted to protect us since the shootings were so close to our school. No one knew who the shooters were, how many there were, how many they killed and injured, and if it was going to happen at other schools too. Our parents started to get worried too because they heard about the shooting and they started calling the school to make sure we were all safe. The news of the shooting traveled fast around the nation. Even my aunts, uncles, and cousins from California called my house to see if my sister and I were safe and not part of the shootings. Our school was on lock down for the rest of the day, there was such strict security that our parents were not allowed to come and pick us up until later in the day. We did not do anything the rest of the day except watch the news and the coverage of the shootings at Columbine High School. It was very difficult to watch the news throughout the day, but yet we were interested in seeing what was happening at the same time. While watching the news and the coverage of the shootings, our teacher started to cry as the news listed some early numbers of how many they think died and were injured from the shootings.
Once the shootings were over we were all relieved but still worried about how many people died and how many were injured. We were able to go home a few hours after the shootings were over. My mom and dad were so happy to see me and my sister and they were so relieved that we were safe. Later that day we found out on the news that the shooters were two students who attended Columbine High School. Apparently they were very unhappy with their lives so they decided to commit this horrible act on this day. “How could anyone be crazy enough and so disgusted with their lives that they would go to school and shoot all these innocent people,” my mother said while watching the news. “There are some sick people in this world,” my dad added. They supposedly had planned this for some time, but it was a complete surprise to everyone else. They just decided that this was the right day to do it. The shooters had killed many students and staff from Columbine High School and injured many too. Once they were surrounded by police the two shooters committed suicide and shot themselves in the head.
It was a very sad and scary day for everyone around the country, especially for the people that lived and went to school around that area. This horrible event has changed the way schools enforce security around the country. This also made everyone realize that anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, even in a place where they think they are safe. This tragedy has affected us many years later too. A few years ago, when I was in 10th grade attending Cherry Creek High School in Colorado, there was a threat against our school on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. Everyone was scared that day because they were worried the shootings would actually happen. Parents were so scared that some did not even send their kids to school that day. The threat was not real but it reminded us all of the tragedy that happened in April of 1999. This kind of tragedy had never happened anywhere else before that day and we will all remember this horrible day forever.
We were in the middle of doing some math problems and practicing our division when the principal of my elementary school came on the loud speaker and said, “Good morning everyone, I have some sad news today. There has been a shooting at Columbine High School, so we will be on lock down for the rest of the day.” After hearing the news everyone in the room, including the teacher, gasped in shock and fear. The room suddenly became quiet as we all were worried and struck with fear. When a school goes on lock down, it means that no one can come in or out of our school. Columbine High School was only a few miles from my elementary school, so every school in the county was on lock down for the rest of the day. We all knew instantly that this was bad and we all became worried. After the announcement by the principal all the teachers in my grade started talking and whispering between each other about what was happening and what to do. One teacher asked the other teachers, “What should we do?” Another teacher then said, “We should probably check to see if all the doors are locked and then close all the windows and shades.” They talked between themselves for a few more minutes and then acted. They went around to all the classrooms in my grade to close all the windows and shades and make sure all the outside doors were locked. It became a very dark and quiet place all of a sudden, no one liked this. The sun was no longer shining through our windows as we could no longer see the sun because of the dark clouds and the closed shades. What was a great and beautiful day, turned out to be a terrible and horrifying day for all of us. The teachers could see the fear in our faces and eyes and they kept reassuring us by saying, “Do not worry kids, everything is going to be fine. You are all safe here.” We believed what they said but we were still worried. My friend then turned to me and asked me, “What would happen if the shooter comes to our school?” “I do not know,” I replied fearfully, hoping that it would never happen. Some time later some police cars pulled up and surrounded our school and the street. They wanted to protect us since the shootings were so close to our school. No one knew who the shooters were, how many there were, how many they killed and injured, and if it was going to happen at other schools too. Our parents started to get worried too because they heard about the shooting and they started calling the school to make sure we were all safe. The news of the shooting traveled fast around the nation. Even my aunts, uncles, and cousins from California called my house to see if my sister and I were safe and not part of the shootings. Our school was on lock down for the rest of the day, there was such strict security that our parents were not allowed to come and pick us up until later in the day. We did not do anything the rest of the day except watch the news and the coverage of the shootings at Columbine High School. It was very difficult to watch the news throughout the day, but yet we were interested in seeing what was happening at the same time. While watching the news and the coverage of the shootings, our teacher started to cry as the news listed some early numbers of how many they think died and were injured from the shootings.
Once the shootings were over we were all relieved but still worried about how many people died and how many were injured. We were able to go home a few hours after the shootings were over. My mom and dad were so happy to see me and my sister and they were so relieved that we were safe. Later that day we found out on the news that the shooters were two students who attended Columbine High School. Apparently they were very unhappy with their lives so they decided to commit this horrible act on this day. “How could anyone be crazy enough and so disgusted with their lives that they would go to school and shoot all these innocent people,” my mother said while watching the news. “There are some sick people in this world,” my dad added. They supposedly had planned this for some time, but it was a complete surprise to everyone else. They just decided that this was the right day to do it. The shooters had killed many students and staff from Columbine High School and injured many too. Once they were surrounded by police the two shooters committed suicide and shot themselves in the head.
It was a very sad and scary day for everyone around the country, especially for the people that lived and went to school around that area. This horrible event has changed the way schools enforce security around the country. This also made everyone realize that anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, even in a place where they think they are safe. This tragedy has affected us many years later too. A few years ago, when I was in 10th grade attending Cherry Creek High School in Colorado, there was a threat against our school on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. Everyone was scared that day because they were worried the shootings would actually happen. Parents were so scared that some did not even send their kids to school that day. The threat was not real but it reminded us all of the tragedy that happened in April of 1999. This kind of tragedy had never happened anywhere else before that day and we will all remember this horrible day forever.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Draft #1
I woke up early in the morning to get ready for a regular day in 3rd grade at Cottonwood Creek Elementary School in Colorado. It seemed like a normal April day in Colorado in 1999, the weather was crisp, cool, and dark in the morning. I get to school and my teacher was especially in a good mood that morning as she had bought us some breakfast and drinks. My first class was the same as every other day that year; we did some reading and practiced our cursive writing. The classroom was bright with the sun just coming up shining through our windows with the snowy tops of the Rocky Mountains in the background. Everyone was in a good and cheerful mood; the day could not have started any better, but things changed dramatically in the middle of my second class of the day.
We were in the middle of doing some math problems and practicing our division when the principal of my elementary school came on the loud speaker and said, “Good morning everyone, I have some sad news today. There has been a shooting at Columbine High School, so we will be on lock down for the rest of the day.” After hearing the news everyone in the room, including the teacher, gasped in shock and fear. The room suddenly became quiet as we all were worried and struck with fear. When a school goes on lock down, it means that no one can come in or out of our school. Columbine High School was only a few miles from my elementary school, so every school in the county was on lock down for the rest of the day. We all knew instantly that this was bad and we all became worried. After the announcement by the principal all the teachers in my grade started talking and whispering between each other about what was happening and what to do. They then went around to all the classrooms to close all the windows and shades and make sure all the outside doors were locked. It became a very dark and quiet place all of a sudden, no one liked this. The sun was no longer shining through our windows as we could no longer see the sun because of the dark clouds and the closed shades. What was a great and beautiful day, turned out to be a terrible and horrifying day for all of us. The teachers could see the fear in our faces and eyes and they kept reassuring us by saying, “don’t worry kids, everything is going to be fine. You are all safe here.” We believed what they said but we were still worried. Some time later some police cars pulled up and surrounded our school and the street. They wanted to protect us since the shootings were so close to our school. No one knew who the shooters were, how many there were, how many they killed and injured, and if it was going to happen at other schools too. Our parents started to get worried too because they heard about the shooting and they started calling the school to make sure we were all safe. The news of the shooting traveled fast around the nation. Even my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins from California called my house to see if my sister and I were safe and not part of the shootings. Our school was on lock down for the rest of the day, there was such strict security that our parents were not allowed to come and pick us up until later in the day. We did not do anything the rest of the day except watch the news and the coverage of the shootings at Columbine High School.
Once the shootings were over we were all relieved but still worried about how many people died and how many were injured. We were able to go home a few hours after the shootings were over. My mom and dad were so happy to see my sister and me and they were so relieved that we were safe. Later that day we found out on the news that the shooters were two students who attended Columbine High School. Apparently they were very unhappy with their lives so they decided to commit this horrible act on this day. They supposedly had planned this for some time, but it was a complete surprise to everyone else. They just decided that this was the right day to do it. The shooters had killed many students and staff from Columbine High School and injured many too. Once they were surrounded by police the two shooters committed suicide and shot themselves in the head.
It was a very sad and scary day for everyone around the country, especially for the people that lived and went to school around that area. This horrible event has changed the way schools enforce security around the country. This also made everyone realize that anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, even in a place where they think they are safe. This tragedy has affected us many years later too. A few years ago, when I was in 10th grade attending Cherry Creek High School in Colorado, there was a threat against our school on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. Everyone was scared that day because they were worried the shootings would actually happen. Parents were so scared too that some did not even send their kids to school that day. The threat was not real but it reminded us all of the tragedy that happened in April of 1999. This kind of tragedy had never happened anywhere else before that day and we will all remember this horrible day forever.
We were in the middle of doing some math problems and practicing our division when the principal of my elementary school came on the loud speaker and said, “Good morning everyone, I have some sad news today. There has been a shooting at Columbine High School, so we will be on lock down for the rest of the day.” After hearing the news everyone in the room, including the teacher, gasped in shock and fear. The room suddenly became quiet as we all were worried and struck with fear. When a school goes on lock down, it means that no one can come in or out of our school. Columbine High School was only a few miles from my elementary school, so every school in the county was on lock down for the rest of the day. We all knew instantly that this was bad and we all became worried. After the announcement by the principal all the teachers in my grade started talking and whispering between each other about what was happening and what to do. They then went around to all the classrooms to close all the windows and shades and make sure all the outside doors were locked. It became a very dark and quiet place all of a sudden, no one liked this. The sun was no longer shining through our windows as we could no longer see the sun because of the dark clouds and the closed shades. What was a great and beautiful day, turned out to be a terrible and horrifying day for all of us. The teachers could see the fear in our faces and eyes and they kept reassuring us by saying, “don’t worry kids, everything is going to be fine. You are all safe here.” We believed what they said but we were still worried. Some time later some police cars pulled up and surrounded our school and the street. They wanted to protect us since the shootings were so close to our school. No one knew who the shooters were, how many there were, how many they killed and injured, and if it was going to happen at other schools too. Our parents started to get worried too because they heard about the shooting and they started calling the school to make sure we were all safe. The news of the shooting traveled fast around the nation. Even my Aunts, Uncles, and cousins from California called my house to see if my sister and I were safe and not part of the shootings. Our school was on lock down for the rest of the day, there was such strict security that our parents were not allowed to come and pick us up until later in the day. We did not do anything the rest of the day except watch the news and the coverage of the shootings at Columbine High School.
Once the shootings were over we were all relieved but still worried about how many people died and how many were injured. We were able to go home a few hours after the shootings were over. My mom and dad were so happy to see my sister and me and they were so relieved that we were safe. Later that day we found out on the news that the shooters were two students who attended Columbine High School. Apparently they were very unhappy with their lives so they decided to commit this horrible act on this day. They supposedly had planned this for some time, but it was a complete surprise to everyone else. They just decided that this was the right day to do it. The shooters had killed many students and staff from Columbine High School and injured many too. Once they were surrounded by police the two shooters committed suicide and shot themselves in the head.
It was a very sad and scary day for everyone around the country, especially for the people that lived and went to school around that area. This horrible event has changed the way schools enforce security around the country. This also made everyone realize that anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, even in a place where they think they are safe. This tragedy has affected us many years later too. A few years ago, when I was in 10th grade attending Cherry Creek High School in Colorado, there was a threat against our school on the anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. Everyone was scared that day because they were worried the shootings would actually happen. Parents were so scared too that some did not even send their kids to school that day. The threat was not real but it reminded us all of the tragedy that happened in April of 1999. This kind of tragedy had never happened anywhere else before that day and we will all remember this horrible day forever.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
MEMO
TO: MS. MOODY
FROM: SETH ROJHANI
DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
I have gotten some good feedback on how to improve my memoir. The first thing I plan to do is to add some dialogue into my memoir. Right now I do not have any dialogue. Another thing I will try to improve is to describe the classroom I was in at the time to give the reader more of an idea of what it was like and how it changed after the shootings at Columbine High School. I also plan on going into more detail about how everyone became scared and worried. I will also try to expand on my ideas and details of the shooting in order to be more descriptive. I will also try to how after the shooting, schools around the country added more security and became more cautious and careful with what is happening in their schools. I will also try to improve the imagery of the places I was in at the time in order to make it more descriptive and create a vivid image for the reader. I plan on showing how I felt at the time and what I was thinking throughout the entire day when the shootings were happening. I also tend to be redundant when I write so I will also try to eliminate words, phrases, and sentences that are redundant. I am going to try to make the beginning of my memoir more suspenseful to get the reader more intrigued and interested in reading the rest of my memoir. I am not very good at endings, so I will improve my ending in order to make it more meaningful for me and the reader. Overall, I think the advice I received to improve my memoir was very helpful to me and I plan on improving all of these things in order to make my memoir perfect.
FROM: SETH ROJHANI
DATE: SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
I have gotten some good feedback on how to improve my memoir. The first thing I plan to do is to add some dialogue into my memoir. Right now I do not have any dialogue. Another thing I will try to improve is to describe the classroom I was in at the time to give the reader more of an idea of what it was like and how it changed after the shootings at Columbine High School. I also plan on going into more detail about how everyone became scared and worried. I will also try to expand on my ideas and details of the shooting in order to be more descriptive. I will also try to how after the shooting, schools around the country added more security and became more cautious and careful with what is happening in their schools. I will also try to improve the imagery of the places I was in at the time in order to make it more descriptive and create a vivid image for the reader. I plan on showing how I felt at the time and what I was thinking throughout the entire day when the shootings were happening. I also tend to be redundant when I write so I will also try to eliminate words, phrases, and sentences that are redundant. I am going to try to make the beginning of my memoir more suspenseful to get the reader more intrigued and interested in reading the rest of my memoir. I am not very good at endings, so I will improve my ending in order to make it more meaningful for me and the reader. Overall, I think the advice I received to improve my memoir was very helpful to me and I plan on improving all of these things in order to make my memoir perfect.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Introduction to Memoir
I woke up early in the morning to get ready for school. It seemed like a normal April day in Colorado, the weather was crisp and cool. I get to school and everything was normal in my first class. In the middle of my second class things changed dramatically. The principle of my elementary school came on the loud speaker to tell us that our school was on lock down. This means that no one can come in or out of our school. She said the reason for the lock down was because there was a shooting at Columbine High School, which was only a few miles from my school. We all knew instantly that this was bad and we all became worried. After the announcement by the principle all the teachers in my grade started talking between each other about what was happening. They then went around to all the classrooms to close all the windows and shades and make sure all the outside doors were locked. It became a very dark and quiet place all of a sudden, no one liked this. Some time later some police cars pulled up and surrounded our school and the street. They wanted to protect us since the shootings were so close. Our parents started to get worried because they heard about the shooting and they started calling the school to make sure we were all safe. Our school was on lock down for the rest of the day, there was such strict security that our parents were not allowed to come and pick us up until later in the day. We did not do anything the rest of the day except watch the news and their coverage of the shooting at Columbine High School. Once the shootings were over we were all relieved but still worried about how many people died and how many were injured. Later that day we found out that the shooters were two students at Columbine High School that were unhappy with their lives so they decided to commit this horrible act on that day. They supposedly had planned this for some time; they just decided that this was the right day to do it. It was a very sad and scary day for everyone around the country, especially for the people that lived and went to school around that area. This horrible event has changed the way schools enforce security around the country. This also made everyone realize that anything can happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, even in a place where they think they are safe. This kind of tragedy had never happened anywhere else before this day and we will all remember this horrible day forever.
Brainstorming
Columbine school shooting
1. How I felt
1. How I felt
- Felt like a normal day
- First hour of school was normal as usual
- After shootings started we were all scared and frightened
- Two unhappy students went to Columbine High School and started shooting other students and school faculty
- All schools around the area went on lockdown (including mine)
- Lasted the rest of the day
- No one could go in or out of our school because of the lockdown
- We sat in our classroom and watched the news for the rest of the day
- Relieved when it was over so we could all go home
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Invention
Ideas
1. Terrorist attacks the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11. Both World Trade Center collapse and thousands of people die.
2. Columbine school shooting
3. Moved from Denver, Colorado to Parkland, Florida because of my dad’s job.
What is it about?
1. It is about the day when a group of terrorists hijacked four planes. Two of those hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York where shortly after crashing into the buildings, both buildings collapsed. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. The last plane was supposedly heading for the White House but some brave passengers on the plane tried to stop the terrorist and the plane ended up crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. Thousands of people died on this day due to the planes crashing and the buildings collapsing.
2. The Columbine school shooting was when two unhappy students came to school one day with guns and a plan to kill everyone in the school. They killed many students and faculty at the school and they severely hurt many more students and faculty.
3. I moved from Denver, Colorado to Parkland, Florida in the summer of 2007. I had just finished my sophomore year of high school. We moved because of my dad’s job. He owned a business in Miami and he was commuting back and forth from Denver to Miami for several years and it became too hard to travel all the time so my family decided to move.
So what?
1. This event affected the country and the world in many ways. This tragedy also affected many people’s lives. The world became more alert to terrorist attacks and threats. Some people changed the way they lived their lives because if this tragedy. This event had an impact on the whole world. Things around the country and the world are very different due to these terrorist attacks.
2. The Columbine school shootings affected the whole country. In every state around the country schools changed their policies and they tightened their security around the school. This also affected the students for years to come because they will always remember what happened that day at that school and will be afraid that it could happen to their school too at anytime. After this tragedy parents were afraid to send their students to school and students were afraid to go to school.
3. This event in my life affected me greatly. Moving to Parkland from Denver has made me who I am today and it changed my life in many ways. I have had to leave my friends in Denver in the middle of high schools and come to a new school and make all new friends in two years before I left for college. Since I had to make all new friends I became more outgoing that way I could meet new people. Since I have moved I have more friends and have become a better person and a more outgoing person than what I was when I lived in Denver.
1. Terrorist attacks the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11. Both World Trade Center collapse and thousands of people die.
2. Columbine school shooting
3. Moved from Denver, Colorado to Parkland, Florida because of my dad’s job.
What is it about?
1. It is about the day when a group of terrorists hijacked four planes. Two of those hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center in New York where shortly after crashing into the buildings, both buildings collapsed. Another plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington D.C. The last plane was supposedly heading for the White House but some brave passengers on the plane tried to stop the terrorist and the plane ended up crashing in a field in Pennsylvania. Thousands of people died on this day due to the planes crashing and the buildings collapsing.
2. The Columbine school shooting was when two unhappy students came to school one day with guns and a plan to kill everyone in the school. They killed many students and faculty at the school and they severely hurt many more students and faculty.
3. I moved from Denver, Colorado to Parkland, Florida in the summer of 2007. I had just finished my sophomore year of high school. We moved because of my dad’s job. He owned a business in Miami and he was commuting back and forth from Denver to Miami for several years and it became too hard to travel all the time so my family decided to move.
So what?
1. This event affected the country and the world in many ways. This tragedy also affected many people’s lives. The world became more alert to terrorist attacks and threats. Some people changed the way they lived their lives because if this tragedy. This event had an impact on the whole world. Things around the country and the world are very different due to these terrorist attacks.
2. The Columbine school shootings affected the whole country. In every state around the country schools changed their policies and they tightened their security around the school. This also affected the students for years to come because they will always remember what happened that day at that school and will be afraid that it could happen to their school too at anytime. After this tragedy parents were afraid to send their students to school and students were afraid to go to school.
3. This event in my life affected me greatly. Moving to Parkland from Denver has made me who I am today and it changed my life in many ways. I have had to leave my friends in Denver in the middle of high schools and come to a new school and make all new friends in two years before I left for college. Since I had to make all new friends I became more outgoing that way I could meet new people. Since I have moved I have more friends and have become a better person and a more outgoing person than what I was when I lived in Denver.
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