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WikiLeaks

My business that I am doing is selling very unique bobbleheads.  They are Joe Bobble Heads (jobbleheads).  They are a big thing in America, and I believe they will be big in Acupajoe.  Acupajoe is a Capitalist Country ruled by a man named Barack Obama.  This nation is a very poor and boring nation.  It has very little technology and lots of farmland.  There are only a few people that have televisions or high priced cell phones in this country.  The streets and sidewaalk areas are covered in trash and waste.  You can’t even see the stream bottoms because of the dirty water in them.  It is dirty because the cities have only one river that flows throughout them, and everybody bathes and washes in them.  This country will be a trade alliance, and it will trade with many other nations.  Nations such as China, Canada, North America, and Rome.  I would trade with these countries because of there great valuables.

Walker

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Coleman and Ortiz
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I think classrooms should stay as an organized chaos. Students should be able to work in groups most of the time and feel free to move around. I think students would feel limited and uninterested if they were restricted to just a desk or small area. A dream class room for me I would imagine to be nicely painted, with some pictures hung up in frames or a bulletin board. Large desks could be stacked around the room able to move around, and an area provided for group work with comfortable seating. I think that working in groups allows students to move more freely, and learn more. Using technology also helps students because it brings a modern, easier touch to a traditional learning experience. Mr.McClung’s room very much represents a room to move about freely, and that is probably why so many people enjoy working in your class. There is a mixture of review games, study guides, blogging, and notes. It provides a way for everyone to learn, and I really enjoy it. I learn through seeing and you provide a bunch of knowledge for that because the photos and media in our blog posts ease off the information. Mr.McClung’s World is a success!

Ashley J.

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Lately there has been much debate on whether a student should be well rounded and take tradition core classes such as math and english, or should students follow their interests in school and take classes such as journalism or technology. As the world starts to change school systems are changing too. So what might have been better in the 20th century might not be ideal in the developing 21st century. So in my opinion it’s more of a battle between generations. Older generations want the school system to stay the same and take the traditional core classes; younger generations want us to take classes based more on our interests. My personal opinion is that students should be required to know the basics the core subjects but once students know the basics and is proficient in the subjects. After that students should then be able to take classes that they are interested in, so this way students can either discover or rule out a career choice. I can also understand how some people would want students to take traditional classes because our mind could and probably would change. But what I think is that those people don’t understand is that by letting us take classes that interest us we can explore different career paths, and this way it would help us decide earlier what we could do for a living.

Bella A.
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There was a research done on ll the fifty states of the United States, and they were testing to see which states were the happiest. Shockingly, Hawaaii was the happiest state, and Arkansas was the 48th happiest. Or in other words, the 2nd unhappiest. And we are not exactly sure why.

The states of Arkansas is not necessarily the most fun place to live….there really isn’t anything to do. We have the U of A in Fayetteville, but unless you live in Fayetteville that really doesn’t apply to you. And whenever you are bored for your entire life, it kind of makes you in a sad mood There also isn’t a single professional sports team. We used to have the ABA Arkansas Rimrockers, but they don’t play anymore. And the closest thing we have now is in Memphis (7 hours away), Kansas City (5 hours away), or in Oklahoma City (6 hours away). So it kind of is a bummer.

Another thing that makes Arkansan’s unhappy is that they have some high stats in statistics that they shouldn’t be to proud of. One of these includes teen pregnancy rates. 9.3% of teens from age 14-17 become pregnant while in this age. This is NOT something to be proud of. Also, we are second in the country in divorce rates behind Nevada (and that’s just because everybody gets divorced in Vegas!)

All in all, Arkansas is not too happy of a state, and its not a good thing. And we need to change this, so I am now on a mission to make sure everyone in the state of Arkansas has an above average happy life.

Andrew P.
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According to a resent survey, Arkansas is the 48 happiest state in America. Our fifth period teacher, Mr. McClung, asked us to write about how we can make our state of Arkansas more happy on according to acces to health care, work happiness, self image. The top ten states and their average well-being scores (out of a possible one-hundered points): Hawaii (70.2), Utah (68.3), Montana (68.3) Minnesota (67.8) Iowa (67.6). Notice that Hawaii (Being a warm state) is at the very top and it just happens that this survey was taken in the winter. Imagine that. And Utah and Minnesota, great skiing resorts and get aways, can be where many TOURISTS were when this survey was taken. This also goes for Hawaii, Montana, and Iowa. When summer comes around, I’m going to have to bet that places like Hawaii, Florida, New York, ARKANSAS, and California (great mountain/outdoors places and summer resorts). I mean really, who wants to go to Alaska or Oregion during the hot, beautiful summer weather. No Body. This survey is probably the most biased survey I have ever seen. I mean they are not even really basing the survey on the three topics.

Tanner N.
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Mr. McClung asked us to pick a blog post option and I picked one about Arkansas. It was a recent survey of people in Arkansas that revealed that we were the 48th most happy state.

How do I feel about that? I really don’t care. But I didn’t figure we were that unhappy

Here’s is my reasoning:

• Yeah we’re not California. Our cows probably are not happy either. Or maybe that’s the problem (happy cows come from California)
• We have too many cows.
• There is nothing to do here. If I were asked if I were unhappy living in Arkansas. I would most likely say yes. There really isn’t anything to do.
• Also most of our state is in poverty. Half our towns are even too small to put a house in or there are homeless people living there. The poll said that the richest states showed that they were on average the happiest
• The state isn’t a major tourist attraction I’m pretty sure. There are not any natural wonders here.
• Teen pregnancy rates are pretty high and divorce rates are too. We are ranked 4th in teen pregnancy. And 3rd as a divorce rate state.

Well…I guess that could make people happier whichever way floats your boat. But either way we need to cheer up!! OR MOVE SOMEPLACE ELSE.

Rachel H.
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Lately, many high school teachers, parents, and students have been debating whether or not students should be able to learn skills and take classes that appeal to their interests as opposed to more traditional schooling. Many think that students should be more well-rounded in skills and abilities while some feel it is more important to focus on one area of interest.

Personally, I can see both sides to this argument. When you are in high school and even college, you are most likely going to change your mind multiple times before you decide what you want your job to be. Therefore, if you only focus on one area of expertise and change your mind later on, you may face challenges in schoolwork that is required for that career. On the other hand, some may say that a narrowed curriculum will help students decide what they want to do after high school and/or college sooner. This would help them continue on that specific path causing less stress in college.

Though I can see both sides of this debate, I think that I would prefer to have a narrowed, more modern curriculum to help get a taste of the classes I would need to take in college and also what my future career could be like.

Kelly N.

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Director, Paul Halverson, DrPH, MHSA
4815 West Markham,
Little Rock, AR 72205

Dear Mr. Halverson,

My name is Tanner and I am in the eighth grade. I go to Woodland Junior High School and I have bought my lunch for the majority of the year and have realized the there is very little healthy food choice on a day to day basis. Some of the few side items that are provided cost 75 cents and for five days a family has to pay $3.75 just for a small bowl of green beans or carrots. I think that the schools in Arkansas should have cheaper, healthier, and a bigger variety for lunch and side items.

In this economy it is hard for some people to afford $20 on lunches for one week. I also think that kids will buy more lunches if they were cheaper and if they have more choices like more sauces and side items for our enjoyment. Many kids buy lunches, but there is also a large group of kids that do not buy them from school that tell me that their family cannot afford them. They also tell me that they wish that they could buy the lunches because of some of the meals, but that their family cannot find the money for around 20 dollars a week for unhealthy meals. Perhaps the school system could work with local farmers so that schools can offer farm fresh produce to students.

Offering healthy food choices does not have to be expensive. Right now, many students are missing out on healthy lunches at school. I would be very pleased to see an improvement in this area. You are in a position of responsibility that can make these changes occur and I thank you in advance for helping in this matter.

Sincerely,

Tanner

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Lessons Learned

Lesson One: Marshall is not to be trusted

Several times during my time being friends with marshall situations have come accross that prove marshall to be untrustworthy. Often times Marshall will get his hands on information that he should not have, unfortunatly the information he has is usually concerning me or someone i’m close to. Once marshall gets this information he comes and tells me usually twisting and changing things to where it’s a completely different thing than what he heard. afterwards I end up doing something stupid which then causes everyone to be mad at me or i’m mad at everyone else all thanks to marshall.

Lesson two: don’t ride a broken bike

The other day I was riding my bike with even though it was obviosly getting very close to completely falling apart. I was riding on a flat stretch of ground with no helmet and luckily i was going very slow because all of the sudden my front tire fell out of place and my bike would have thrown me off and killed me if i had been going downhill especially with no helmet. So from now on i’ll be extremely careful and check my bike before i ride it

Lesson three: Rasstlin week

Yes that’s right Rasstlin week it’s a week that consists of Seven days of pain: Mongol Monday, Tapout Tuesday, Rasstlin Wednesday, Throwdown Thursday, Fatality Friday, Smackdown Saturday, Spiritualy smackdown Sunday. Each day is a new and always unusual way to hurt each other, But since the only time we’re all together is in Mr. Mcclung’s class we can’t do any of the awesome rasstlin stuff we do. Rasstlin week is pretty much just a way for us to get through the day without being completely bored so it works for us.

Patrick R.

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Lessons Learned

If you want to save money Black Friday, you MUST eat a good traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Foods containing tryptophan raise seritonin in the brain and that lowers your chances to buy something on impulse. Click on the Science Daily link to learn more
Second is that our class really needs to learn to just sit still. I don’t think I need to go into any more detail than just first period needs to learn this SOON.

Finally, I learned that is that Area 51 is moving some of their opperations to a different base, deeper in the heart of the USA. Watch UFO Hnters on the History Channel(channel 55) to see the evidence.
Visit the website.

Ian G.

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Lessons Learned

Lesson 1: Tie Tuesday is Awesome

Lesson 2: Don’t burn your hand

Patrick R. burned his hand kindof like this

Lesson 3: Wrastling Wak

All this week in 1st period everyday we had a day that had to do with wrestling. Here they are: Mongle Monday, Tap-out Tuesday, wrastling wednesday, throw down Thursday, Fatality Friday, smack down Saturday, Spiritual Smack down Sunday

Clark B.

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Lessons Learned

A Break Should be a Break

So, this next week is Thanksgiving Break. And your first thoughts are turkey, and lots of food. But at my house it is nothing but cleaning the house all day. This is like saying getting out of college and getting a job is a break. I think a break from school should be an actual break, not some excuse to giving me tons of housework.

Wii’s are awesome!!

During this past week in my Spanish class, we were talking about Spanish (As is natural in SPANISH Class). Then somehow we got on the subject of video games. One side of the room argued that PS3s are better than XBOX 360s. They argued about various features and what they could do. All the while I told the people around me that Wii’s are the beat. All the features they talked about are on the Wii also, but better. All in all, Wii’s are the best!!!

Sue, Sue I tell you, Sue

Found out this week that more lawyers graduate from college than any other jobs. This is because lawyers are paid the most, you say? No, it is because we like to sue each other. I think this is just wrong. We need to just stop suing each other.

Joseph R.

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Whatch Out For Wild Things!

I am sooo very excited about Where the Wild Things Are!!!! The long time favorite book turned movie comes out today!! This was one of the first books I ever had and is an absolute classic….