October Happenings

At the young age of 10, I got a job! I am a librarian. I get paid $30 (scholar dollars) every week on Friday. I had to write a persuasive letter. I started out by whining about how I haven't had a job yet....pardon me while I wait for my mom to quit laughing. Then I said I am responsible...that's all I remember. But I got the job anyway. My duties as librarian are to check classroom books out for classmates and record it in a binder.

We had an award assembly on Friday. I got 3 awards: Perfect Attendance, A-B Honor Roll (Silver Award), and the P.E. award. The P.E. award surprised me. I didn't expect it. Mr. Weeks gave it to me because he said I set a good example of listening and respecting others....and that I was incredibly handsome...okay not the last part.

Hmmmmmm.....hummmmm.....hmmmmmm..........oh yeah! I went to Shooting Sports for 4-H yesterday. Last month, I did air rifles. Yesterday, I did bow and arrow. I like bow and arrow the best. I shot a total of 9 arrows. One of the arrows was a centimeter away from the center of the bulls eye. One of my other ones was about 2 inches away from the bulls eye. Only one of my arrows didn't hit the target. We were using 24-lb bows.

I also went shooting with my mom and dad a couple weekends ago. I shot a 20 gauge shotgun the most and also a .22 rifle, and David Tran's .38 special. (David Tran works with my dad). With the shotguns, we were shooting at clay pigeons. Clay pigeons are basically just little orange circles that you throw out like frisbees and shoot them out of the air. When they hit the ground, if you haven't shot them yet, they shatter. We also shot at old DVD's when we ran out of clay pigeons. Where we went, there was this big semi-circle ridge that we shot into. I climbed on top of the ridge and everyone looked like little ants. I liked throwing rocks down. They would just keep rolling and once I almost hit one of the targets. But then I had to come down so that I did not become a target when everyone else was ready to shoot.

I am now officially a webelos scout. My leader is Brother Boysun. Every time we go to scouts, we make some food. I think my favorite so far has been either the doughnuts or the woof'ums. Woof'ums are little biscuits that you wrap around a ball on a stick then roast until they are cooked. This makes a little bowl that you fill with cherries or pudding, whip cream, honey, and basically anything along those lines. Next weekend, my dad and I are going camping at a Webelos-ree campout. The webelos are going to be making all of the meals. I am a lot excited about going. It seems like a lot of fun. It is just an overnighter and I wish it was longer.

School is Cool...and so am I

Tomorrow I have to pay rent for my desk at school. I owe $100 for the month of September. I have 130 scholar dollars. I earned them by being good and working hard. She passes out dollars at least once a day for things like standing good in line, after taking tests, or helping someone with their job. We also get $20 for every Character Sticker we earn at school.

I can also apply for a job. There are 9 jobs: librarian, security, pencil duty, electrician, messenger, mailman and more. The librarian is in charge of the classroom books ($30/week). Security makes sure that all the doors are locked when we go out and that the teacher has her classroom keys ($20/week). The electrician is in charge of turning the computers on and off at the beginning and end of the day ($10/week). Pencil duty makes sure all pencil sharpeners are emptied when they're full ($20/week). Messenger brings letters to other teachers ($20/week). Mailman travels between the classroom and office ($30/week). If you have a job, you get paid every Friday.

After paying rent on your desk at the beginning of the month, you can apply for a job by writing a persuasive letter on why you should be picked for the job. You can only apply for one job at a time and you can't be picked for the same job twice in a row. The teacher picks based on your persuasive letter.

Last month, I applied for librarian but didn't get hired. Tomorrow I am going to apply for librarian again. I really want to get librarian. I think it's a fun program. It teaches me what life will be like.

At school, I sit next to my second cousin Reed Ellsworth. Reed and I built an electromagnet at his grandmother's house after school. His dad told us how to make it. It's cool because it actually picks up things like safety pins but bigger objects are too heavy for it.

In the beginning of the year, I did very well on my math pre-test so my teacher gave me a harder test. Now I am about 50 lessons ahead of the rest of the class. I go to another 4th grade teacher's class for math. Her name is Ms. Heredia. It's fun but REALLY challenging.

When I grow up I want to be a lego creator or a paleantologist.

I've earned by bear badge in cub scouts and 1 gold and 3 silver arrow points. Last weekend, I dove off the high dive. I was proud of myself but next time I will put my hands out first because I got a massive headache.

School Countdown

We only have 17 more days of school not counting weekends. I am both sad and excited. I am sad because I'm going to miss all my friends and my teacher but I'm excited to go to 4th grade! I'm also nervous to go to 4th grade.

This summer, I'm going to go swimming, go to the park, go camping, read a lot of books, save money for a lego set...So far I have $15. I earned $5 from my dad for eating a pepperoncini from the Papa John's pizza box. Then I found $7 in my backpack that I'd forgotten about. Then I looked around the house for loose change.

The Gila Valley Temple

This last weekend, we went to the Gila Valley Temple Open House. We were also visiting cousins. We went with some Crandall cousins (Melody, Savanna, Brooke, Eden, Laurel, Bill, Emily, Christian, Bailee, Poppy Crandall, Gma and Gpa Clark). First we watched a video about the history of the Gila Valley. Then we went inside the temple. First we had to wear special shoe covers so we wouldn't get the carpets dirty. There were people there who put the covers on our feet and then took them off as we left.

When you first walk through the entry of the temple, there is a big desk where they check your recommends. Then we went through an ordinance room. It had paintings that looked just like what Poppy draws. It looked like the Gila Valley. I saw deer, little rabbits...it was pretty neat. Then we saw the baptistry. I thought it was cool because it had stairs down into a pool. The pool was on top of 12 oxen statues. The 12 statues represent the twelve tribes of Israel. (Jacob had 10 sons + 2 grandsons)

Some of the rooms had very beautiful and shiny chandeliers. There were mirrors too. They faced each other and you could look in one and see forever. I want to get married in the Gila Valley Temple.

After we left the temple, I asked my Dad how much money he thought it cost to build the temple. He said he didn't know but it was a lot of tithing money. There were yummy sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies to eat and bottles of water.

The rest of the weekend, we played with our Clark cousins: Rebecca, Emi, and Liam. We played rocket tag, Skipbo, Pictionary, Sorry, we played at the park, fed ducks (even though we weren't supposed to give them our people food). I fed one duck so much that he'd come towards me all the time. I tried to pet him but then he'd just bite my finger.

It was fun driving to and from Safford in our big white van. I sat on the last bench with Solé. She was quiet and looked out the window during the whole trip. Nikki and Josh sat on the middle bench, and Britton and Darren sat on the first bench. The first two benches had movie screens. We watched Toy Story 1 and 2, The Princess and the Frog, and Alvin & the Chipmunks Squeakquel. It made the trip seem so fast.

Requirement 18C - A Day in the Life of Jay

I am supposed to keep a daily record of my activities for 2 weeks.

Today I woke up at 6:31 AND got out of bed.
Then I got dressed and ate breakfast.
I left for school at 7:40 but I forgot my lunch so we drove home again.
I got to school finally at 7:48.
The first thing I did at school was read because I finished all my work yesterday.
Next we corrected the paper from yesterday. I did good except I accidentally skipped 2 problems.
Next we did Estimations in Math. I was only one off. I chose 243. The real answer was 244.
Next we did "Specials". It was Computer Day. I did math exercises in a program called "Study Island" on the computer. I got a really squeaky chair.
After "Specials" we got ready to go to Reading. In Reading, we listened to a report about Thomas Jefferson. Then we finished our AIMS test prep. We got to show people rocks that we found. I was the last one to do it. I found a whole bunch of rocks. One of them looked like my pocket knife. Another looked like a duck's foot. Then reading was over.
Then we went to lunch. I ate leftover meat, rice, crackers and spinach dip. I ran out of time to eat my asparagus. Then I went to recess.

At recess, I tried out a game that didn't turn out so well. Everyone on the other team was cheating. It was a game with hoops and a football. If someone steals the football on your side, you have to tag them before they pass the line in the middle. Once they pass the line in the middle, their team wins.

After recess, we went back to the classroom and read for a couple minutes. I am reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Then the teacher read us a chapter out of the book "Mouse on the Motorcycle". We just started it today. We only got to chapter 2. I've read it before and I enjoyed it the first time. After she read to us, we did writing. Unfortunately it was really hot in the classroom because the air conditioning wasn't working. So everyone was asking to get a drink.

After writing, we did Science. In Science, we learned about clouds and what forms them. About clouds, I learned that they are formed by water vapor. Wind changes the shape of the clouds.

After that I went home. I don't have soccer anymore. Usually we have to do homework first but I didn't have any. Then I get to play until 5pm. Tonight is my turn to do the lesson for Family Home Evening.

1/2 Mile Run

A couple days ago, for P.E., we were running a 1/2 mile. Afterwards my legs have been very sore. Right after that I had soccer practice where I did even more running. So my legs were even more sore. But now it's over.

My cousin Reed gave me a new lego set. It is a car that has really big wheels, suspension, steering, and I have been playing with it since I got it.

Today is St. Patrick's Day. For breakfast, my mom made green milk and green cinnamon rolls. At school, we watched a movie called "The Unlucky Leprechaun" and ate popcorn and drank soda. I asked Mrs. Martinez if I could keep all the soda cans for Cub Scouts so when I got home, I just put them on the floor. Some time today, I want to go to my friend Nathan's house to give his dad the cans. We don't have homework because we were good during the movie.

Tomorrow we are going to have the multicultural performance. In the multicultural performance, we get to dress up to represent a country. We can represent any country that we want. I am going to represent America and dress up as a cowboy. We will also be singing songs like "Three Little Birds" and "We are Family". We will also be doing hand bells. The exciting part is that I'm going to be doing hand bells.

Jay's Class in the Newspaper

Yuma schools raise over $6,000 for cancer research
BY WILLIAM ROLLER - SUN STAFF WRITER
2010-03-09 16:16:42

The competitive spirit, when applied toward a cause, can bring an outpouring of generosity.

Pasta for Pennies, a campaign to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, provides collection jars in classrooms around the country to raise funds for research. Since its inception in 1994, Pasta for Pennies, which has formed a partnership with Olive Garden Restaurants, has raised $47 million nationwide, according to society statistics.

Recently, two Yuma schools, Desert View Academy and O.C. Johnson School, wrapped up their drives with more than $6,200 raised for the society. The top fundraising classes earned a pasta lunch from Olive Garden.

Desert View Academy has an outstanding record of raising money for good causes, said Rick Ogston, executive director.

Last year, Desert View was the top fundraiser in the county and third best in the state. This year they set a goal of $5,000, but managed to reach $5,925. This is the seventh year Desert View participated, Ogston said.

"We're trying to teach the students about how cancer can affect nearly everybody at some point in their lives. While we try to teach them how important raising money is, teaching the importance of raising awareness is just as important."

Fifteen Desert View classes raised more than $250. But it was the third-grade class of Marilyn Gutierrez who raised the most - $560. For their efforts, the students will be treated to a pasta lunch at the end of March, Ogston noted.

Desert View has been touched by the trauma of cancer, witnessing the loss of several parents and this past Christmas, a staff member succumbed, Ogston said.

"It was a tragic loss. Elda Neketin was with us for over eight years. She loved reading and teaching literacy to our second-grade students. Cathy Prell, a para-professional, also passed away from cancer."

He said this was an excellent opportunity for students to learn the value of giving, even pennies, because every small amount helps. Ogston also praised Cindy Carter, character education teacher, for organizing the campaign which proved to be so successful.

Soliciting support for leukemia research turned out to be a very positive experience for students at O.C. Johnson School, said Jennifer Arellano, health clerk.

“They got really excited about the campaign. They were clearing out their piggy banks and sweeping their homes for change.”

O.C. Johnson collected more than $300 for their efforts. Arellano said that was very impressive given the current economy, when everyone is having a rough time financially.

She said the school had a student last year who previously had leukemia but it has been in remission for several years.

“It touches us more profoundly because we knew someone who was struggling with the disease.”

Typically, the top fundraising class of each school wins lunch but since three classes at O.C. Johnson were close in their final tally they will all get to dine. The classes of Yadira Hom, third-grade teacher; Sherry Elzey, fourth-grade teacher; and Anita Monk, special education teacher, will all share a lunch at the end of April.

One of the motivating factors about the program is children get to see how a little effort from a lot of people can really add up, said Katrina Noble, general manager of the Olive Garden on 16th Street.

Noble said they will deliver a spaghetti and marinara dinner with salad and garlic bread sticks to O.C. Johnson and serve students in class.

"At first, children are kind of shy but then they go, this is all for us? I doubt they get to eat in class very often, so it's kind of a treat for them."

Silver Spur Rodeo Parade

Yesterday I was on a float in the Silver Spur Rodeo Parade. We (the cub scouts) decorated the float with a canoe surrounded by chicken wire with tissues hand stuffed in. We spray painted the tissues blue to make it look like water. The Webelos sat in the canoe and everyone else sat in the back of the pickup truck that was pulling the float. All the cub scouts had fishing poles or nets with paper fish tied at the end. Sylvestre put a shoe on the end of his hook. My friend, Jaden Stuart, lost his fish but Lucas got it. The second time he lost it, we couldn't find it. When we were there, Sister Thorson gave us peanuts to eat. She said that we could throw the shells at each other. We won a 2nd place trophy for our design.

Yesterday, my friend Nathan came over. We played Wii Play and we played with my mom's green exercise ball. We passed it back and forth.

I just finished another Harry Potter book, "The Prisoner of Azkaban". I really liked it. There were 434 pages! Tomorrow, we are going to the movie theatre to watch Percy Jackson and the Olympian's; Lightning Thief. That is one of my favorite books. I think the movie is going to be cool!

Today in primary, we learned about Enoch. He had slow speech and everybody hated him. One day, Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ (I can't remember which one) talked to him and said He would help him. He helped him tell the people that they needed to repent. My class was interrupted because we were taking pictures for our Activity Day craft that we're making this Saturday.

Last week we had a Bike Rodeo in our church parking lot. We started out by learning how to jump curbs. Then we were going on bikes through an obstacle course. In the obstacle course, we had to weave in and out through trees. Then we had a race. After that we could play on any of the things we did.

Our New Van

We got a new van. It's got 12 seats and it is white. My mom said Britton, Josh, and Darren get the first bench. Nikki gets the second bench and I get the last bench! Each seat has it's own light which is great for reading in the van. It has air conditioning on each bench too so I can keep cool or warm. I think the van will be good for camping because it's big and if we're traveling for a long time, there's a lot of space for laying down. My mom says that we are going to Mesa on Friday for Darren's surgery. I think it will be fun staying in the van for 3 hours.

On my last soccer game, we tied 3-3. I am proud that I was able to kick the ball down the field lots of times when they were trying to reach my goalie. I like soccer. I want to play next year too. My dad said that maybe next year I can play basketball too because he said I was getting pretty good at dribbling and shooting.

I spent the night at my friend Nathan Boysun's house on Friday night. We played legos and I made a really cool creation. It was like a tank and about a foot long. I really like Nathan. Some of his favorite stuff are legos, video games, and Star Wars. Usually when I want something like if I'm thirsty or hungry, he'll get it for me. He is a very nice friend.

Today in my primary class, we learned about how some things change and some things don't change. We compared the things that don't change to the gospel. Brother Slack and Brother Webb are my teachers. In Singing Time we reviewed a song that we learned a couple years ago and played a game like football along with learning the song. The points were tied 6-6. In Sharing Time, Sister Crocker read sentences out of the scriptures and we had to find the picture that matched.

At school, we started doing science. We are learning about water and what it is used for. Water is used for factories or industries, watering crops, feeding animals, and getting electricity. I really like science. Science and reading are my favorite.

On my Harry Potter book, I have finished 731 pages. There are 734 pages total. I have only 3 left. I think I'll go read when I'm done. So far, it took me a week and a half to read the book.

Sir Blockus

I have been reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. There are 734 pages in the book. I have 300 pages left. My record is reading 300 pages in one day. I am at the part where they have done the first task where they fight the dragons and the Yule ball. I think the book is better than the movies.

I want to tell you about why I am called Sir Blockus. My mom gave me the nickname because she says I am realy good at blocking soccer balls. I always play defense. We won our last game 5-0.

Yesterday I played a new game on the Wii called Lego Indano Jones II. It is really fun. There was a part on the first level that my cousin and I couldn't figure out. After he left, I figured out how to finish the level.

Then at Cub Scouts we were building things to go on our float. We are going to have a bike rodeo.

Today I was doing P.E. and I was doing the running lap. A fourth-grader accidentally kicked me above the knee. My leg still hurt. I have soccer practice soon.

Goodbye

Introduction

My name is Jay.  I am a jedi knight from the planet Earth.  Unfortunately my jedi powers do not work on my mother.  She made me eat fish yesterday. 

I am the oldest and wisest of 5 kids.  I have one sister, 3 brothers, and a dog.  My favorite color is green so I got a green light saber.  My jedi friends are Reed, Trevor (my cousin), Sam, Noah, Carson, Preston, Mohammed, Nathan, Andrew, and Nate. 

I am a cub scout.  The boys in my cub scout troop are Jaiden, Jaden, Nathan, Nathan, Henson, Silvestre, Isaac, Salem, Andrew, Pedro, and Miguel.  We had our Pinewood Derby last week.  My car was green, black, and gold.  It got 4th place.  It was jumping off the rails because all the weight was in the back. 

I am in soccer.  I have won 2 games so far.  The last game was a tie 0-0.  I play defense.  That means I help the goalie.

I am in the third grade.  Recess and Lunch are my favorite parts of school.  At recess, I'll either play 'Pain Tag' or 'Spider Tag'.  'Pain Tag' is like tag but when you're tagged you have to fall down and play dead for 5 seconds and then start chasing after others.  To play 'Spider Tag', when you're 'it' you need to crawl around the monkey bars and try to tag someone.  If you go on the web (the chains) then you're stuck there until someone that's not 'it' tags you.  If you fall then you're automatically 'it'.

My favorite school subjects are reading and science.  My favorite books are the Hardy Boys and Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

That is all.  The End.  May the force be with you.  (My teacher always tells us that right before we take a test).