London Olympics!

Dear class of 2014!

Back when some of you were in KIPP Academy Middle School, we had a guest speaker who was an aspiring Olympic athlete. Do you remember sitting and hearing Tim Hornsby speak about his dream?
Well, Tim's dream came true.

He will be representing the United States as the only athlete for the Sprint Kayak race. Let me know if you remember that day.

For all my 2014 students, I hope you are having a wonderful summer. Please comment on this blog!

xo Ms. Lensgraf

What do you see?

On Writing a Research Paper

Hello class of 2013.

First of all, welcome to the KIPP Writers House blog. Take a look around and leave comments whenever you want!

This picture was taken early last Sunday morning, the first and last day of the MS 150 ride. You don't know how hard it is to fit 18 bikes in a van.... I certainly know how difficult it is to ride 70 or 80 miles, up and down the hills, with a strong wind in your face. And how nice it feels to finish the ride. I applaud your effort and fundraising for this disease.

Now on to the queston at hand. As we are almost finished with our first research paper, please add a comment below on what you have learned from this process and what specific things helped you get organized in order to write. I am mostly interested in hearing what things you learned that you will continue in writing your big history paper. -Ms. L

"Secret Friendship"

Gaby Gil

He is my waffle
And I am his pancake
And he is my best friend
In the whole wide world
He is my butter
And I am his jelly
Together we make perfect PBJS
Cause I love you so
And I want to know
That you to know
That you always be right here
And I love to sing this song to you
Because you are so DEAR <3

"Adventure in a Book"

Racheal Tran

As you open a book,
Go and take a look,
Your journey has just begun.

What are you to be?
When you truly see,
Any character you can choose.

Where will you go?
The book will know,
And you will travel far.

When you turn each page,
The story will not age,
And enjoy your bewitching trip.

But when you are at THE END,
Do not be melancholy my friend,
And just take another book.

And now you start again,
Your new journey began,
A new adventure awaits.

"Bracelets"

Chris Fernandez

Monday morning I wake up half alive
I get ready for school
As I got to school I drag myself through the hallway
I get to homeroom and all I hear
OMG! Does are like some nice bracelets, you would not mind if I borrow one
No, she would not mind she won’t even know it was gone
I go up to her and tell her “you can last a day your bracelets” but then
You would need to call me a liar
What are you trying to hide
Do you cut yourself, did you burn yourself or did they beat you
She gave me her bracelets and the next day I gave them back to her
I tell her what was the point of all your bracelets
You have no cuts, bruises, or burns
And I get a one word response
FASHION!

"Laughter"

Tarik Tyler

Laughter can’t go away
Even if you try to hide it.
Laughter will always be with you
No matter who’s with you.
Laughter takes your mind away
From the chaotic mess we call life,
And sometimes laughter can hurt a life.
Some laugh with their mouth wide open
And some laugh with their mouth close.
Some reveal their pearly whites and
Some will refuse
No matter what you do,
Laughter will always be with you
To brighten up your day
Or make the tears go away.

"Whenever I See You"

Edgar Sanchez

Whenever I see your dazzling eyes, I can’t stop admiring them. Your eyes bright as the full moon at night. And then I see your gorgeous smile, that I could see from a mile away. Then your sweet, soft voice, so idyllic, and so breathtaking makes me wonder how you could be so flawless. Seeing you is like staring at a piece of art, so beautiful. I get hyponotized by the way that you see right through me. And I feel as if cupid has just hit me. You must already know the way that you make my heart pound faster, faster, and faster by every second that passes by. I am so glad to have found love that last forever.

"Innocent Voices"

Nelly Valladares

What did we do wrong that now they want to kill us?
I look outside the window trying to see the future but the only thing I saw was American
Soldiers killing innocent voices.
Voices that will never be heard again.
Voices that might have beautiful future.
Voices that will never be heard by someone else.
What I also see is family working so hard to maintain their whole family together.
We have come so far, whether should I give up or continue my way lying to myself that everything is fine.
Innocent voices that had nothing to do with it.
Innocent voices never heard, but the sound of bombs I always heard.

"Chocolate"

Dana Faran

Chocolate is my favorite candy
There’s white chocolate,
Milk chocolate,
Dark chocolate,
Hot chocolate,
Chocolate on strawberries,
White chocolate on strawberries,
All kinds of chocolate.
Truffles and lemon chocolates,
Raspberry and strawberry chocolate.
Hershey’s and reeses cups,
Chocolate ice cream,
Chocolate covered pretzels,
And many more I can list,
But now I’ll stop.

"Memories Forever"

Leslye Campos

TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK
It is a simple fact that
Memories don’t last forever,
But there is always one thing.
One memory,
That stays with you forever,
And follows you everywhere you go—
It might be the day you threw your hat up towards the sky
As people clapped and admired the newly graduated class of
Ninety ninety-nine,
Or maybe the day you said
“I do,” to that loved one sitting right next to you,
Or maybe,
Maybe it was the day you held your baby in your arms for the first time
As you kissed him sweetly on his cheek
And softly whispered
“I love you my dearest baby,”
That is the day you realized
That he is the only one keeping you in the world
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock
Wow,
Time ticks by fast
And that is the one thing,
The one memory,
That has stayed with you forever
And has followed you everywhere you go
TICK, TOCK, TICK, TOCK

"The Fire Burned Me"

Lissette Carranza

I felt my heart pushing against my chest.
My blood rushed through my body and I felt my flesh burning.

I felt the tight knot on my voice that washed away my voice from my vocal chords.

My heart kept pounding.
I felt it in my arms, my legs, my face.

I heard it when I leaned against the wall, when I learned
Against my shoulder, when I closed my eyes.

That feeling, the feeling of embarrassment—I hate it!

I was empty inside, the looks they gave me.

The fire on their eyes; the look burned me.

I felt my heart pushing against my chest, my blood rushed through my body and I felt my flesh burning.

I saw the fire on their eyes.

The fire burned me.

That feeling; the feeling of embarrassment—I hate it.

Cruz's Poem

Cruz Aguilar

Like…Ummm….Uhh…Mmmmm…Uh…Like…
I wish I had like the finished my work but…
Like Uhh….Mr.Professor sir… Like my … like…
My dog ate kind of…like…took it

Well couldn’t you have gotten it back from it

Like… He kind of… like ate it…all

Well what can we do about this little problem.
Ahh. I got it you can do it all over again.

Well I can’t… like do it. because … I’m like .. going… to… the…
Bahamas.

Well then I hope you have fun in the pyramids

Well… I will have fun climbing those pyramids and having fun in the hot sand of the desert

Well then listen there is there is no pyramids in the Bahamas

Yes there is… you just said so.

Well I lied.

So there are no pyramids

No but Do you know what there is?

No. What is there

There is a detention pass waiting for you

What?

Listen. YOU HAVE DETENTION.

What?

Ohh… Just get to room 213 with this pass

O.K.

"Freedom"

Emelyn Caceres

Bright blue skies,
Butterflies ruffle by,
Beautiful white picket fences
Fresh tall green grass
Love in the air people who care
Giggles, laughter, joy and happiness
Keeping a grasp to the farm’s past
And its true background roots behind…
They scream out their lungs
They cry deep inside
The fear in their eyes
The unnecessary surprise
Blisters, Blood, Brutal deaths
Unsteady patterns of their every breath
Paranoia, Insanity and Madness
Slowly creeps into their bleeding minds
As they give it their all to survive
Paralytic corpses lying on the floor
Limbs bursting out of their very bodies
Crawling for freedom
Looking for the sunshine’s welcome
Grinding their numb hanglessly skin on the cell’s floor
Trapped, Trapped, Trapped
Breathless, crowded, trapped
Slowly their dying for your own pleasure
These animals are suffering just to get what you call “food”
When it’s just slaughter
So tell me, next time, will you think about what’s on your plate?

"'Silence is golden'"

Leslie A. Campos

“Silence is golden”
The phrase that has been used so many times
Yet it is such a lie
The words repeatively with no such courage
Though all of it is just word of the mouth
Does the child
Trapped by her father
Self-kept from her mother
Believe silence is golden?
Does the unborn life
Sushed without a choice
Kept from living
Believe silence is golden?
Does the man
Lying on his cardboard bed
With his breath singing loneliness
Believe such a cliché statement?
The words that echo through the wind
Left unnoticed
Are silent
Is “silence is golden”
Would there be a heart beat?
The beat that contains our survival
Like the drums that pound the heart away
If “silence is golden”
Would there be music?
The music everywhere
If it’s not Aerosmith
Vivaldi
Or Nickelback
Or simply a child playing with pots and pans
Clink, clank, thump
Making the sound of life
If “silence is golden”
Why would we need words
Why would we need letters
Why would we need
Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X,
Y would we need the alphabet
If my words will only come out like (this)
And my mouth will only be (moving)
If “silence IS golden”
I
I would be dead
My heart beat
My beat
Beat
Beat
Beat
Silent

"Follow Your Dreams"

Priscilla Larrea

Trouble arrives I measures,
And we stack it up real high,
Until we’re convinced,
We have no reason to try.
If you feel defeated,
You’re absolutely wrong,
For if you follow your dream,
You could never loose for long.
The future holds great promise,
Your destiny unknown,
And you’re never alone.
Soar bravely toward your goal.
Let nothing darken the way.
You can change your tomorrow,
If you seek your dream today.

"The Day I Cried"

Lisett Baiza

As I walked out the door.
I saw my sister in the bench sitting down.
She was trying to hide her tears so I couldn’t see her.
Ii saw her wipe away her tears.
I told her “Why are you crying. You don’t have to hide your tears?”
She didn’t want to tell me.
I was getting worried.
I ask my brother what was wrong.
My brother Juan took a deep breath.
He didn’t know how to tell me.
I told him just to tell me, but he said it was too hard for him.
He didn’t look hurt like my sister.
I felt like I was left out.
My brother Juan told me my brother Noe was at the hospital.
I was wondering why, but in the outside some tears came out.
I started to cry and felt the pain that my sister was going through.
I wanted to be with her so we both feel the same pain, but I thought it will be better ffor us to reflect in own way.

"A Friend"

Marleny Yanez

A friend is like a flower, a beautiful flower, a beautiful rose unleashing its petals to be exact, or maybe a brand new gate that never comes unlatched.
A friend is like an owl, both beautiful and wise, or perhaps a friend is like a ghost, whose spirit never dies.
A friend is a like a heart that grows strong until the end of our lives, or maybe a friend is like a clover hard to find but lucky to keep. Where would we be in this world if we didn’t have a friend?

"The Hideaway"

Nadia Garcia

Billy’s a boy who likes to play
Billy’s a boy who stays away
From all the rest of the boys and girls
Including the girl with the big red curls
You see when Billy plays
He doesn’t just play
But he goes to a secret hideaway
It’s not in his head.
It is indeed real
That other boys and girls can touch and feel
“The Magical World of Billy Hay”
He laughs and plays in a silly daze
Billy sees past what others can see
Billy sees far more than what things appear to be
Billy sees far more than you and me

"I Wake Up"

Leo Artiga

I wake up to go to

School then come back

And act like a fool

And next thing you know

I get nothing to do.

But then i go to bed

And I wake up with

A trend and when

I arrive to school I

Figured I have left

My homework in

My

Bed.