Personal Narrative: John Edgar Howard Elementary School

The Carolina Day Key Middle School went on an overnight in September 2015 at a place called Camp Timberlake for Boys. All of us got to know each other well. On our last day a few of our canoes flipped over while on the French Broad River. One of them was Lacy, Aubrey and Mr. Flamini’s canoe. Lacy and Aubrey’s canoe flipped over when Mr. Flamini tried to clamber in.

NEW PROVIDENCE, NEW JERSEY- This past Friday, on June 5th, the rain did not prevent Salt Brook Elementary School from inviting New Providence High School students from across town for a day of community service. It was the high school’s third community service trip of the year as students previously visited the Community Food Bank of New Jersey in Hillside and Allen W. Roberts Elementary School. The 23 high school students on Friday’s trip took part in various field day activities such as the Bean Bag Toss, the Long Jump, and the Spoon and Golf Ball Relay.

As the days progress, there are always new adventures waiting each day. I constantly learn new skills, meet wonderful educators, volunteers, and most importantly, assist children who have the potential and enthusiasm to achieve different goals. My day started on a rainy, Monday morning, no different than any other Monday, so I thought. I traveled to Johns Island on this day; Angel Oak Elementary School happened to be my morning destination. When I arrived, I did not expect any additional duties, other than observing tutors and students throughout sessions.

When I was attending Kaneland John Shields Elementary School in Sugar Grove, everday was just the same. First we started out with Silent reading our books, and then moved onto reading with our guided reading books. Next, we would move onto writing, where some days we free wrote and others we had an assignment. After Writing we had specials, which consisted of, art, P.E, computer,and music. Then we had lunch, math,and lastly social studies and science.

In the middle of the winter of the 5th grade school year at the Kaneland Mcdole Elementary School, I decided to cover for my best friend so he wouldn't get in trouble from my teacher. It was very cold while I waited at the bus stop every morning trying to amuse myself by sliding down the icy driveways. Ethan S., Sergio, and Grant were my best friends in 5th grade. Sergio was Mexican and a little shorter than me. He also sat next to me in desks of 5 or 4.

In the middle of the winter of the 5th grade school year at the Kaneland Mcdole Elementary School, I made a decision to protect my best friend so he wouldn't get in trouble from my teacher. It was very cold while I waited at the bus stop every morning trying to amuse myself by sliding down the icy driveways. Ethan S., Sergio, and Grant were my best friends in 5th grade. Sergio was Mexican and a little shorter than me. He also sat next to me in desks of 5 or 4.

February sixth was the day of my last middle school game. We were playing our rivals , Ledford middle school. The first time we played them we only lost by two points. The first five starters for Ledford and our first five including myself were all standing at half court for tip off. The ref. threw the ball up and Gillian tipped it back to me.

“Darn, surrounded by all of these nice homes and communities, this High School should be really nice,” is what I thought once I got to the North Druid Hills Rd and North Cliff Valley Way intersection. In front of me all that I could see was vibrant communities that displayed their affiliation with the Lenox area, which is a very rich area. Making a left onto North Druid Hills Road, I continued to see beautiful homes on my right and my left I began to see the campus of Cross Keys High School. Due to the tons of leaves that had fallen, the bare trees that occupied the front of the campus, and the splotchy patches of grass, viewing the Cross Keys campus was not as striking to the eye as was the view of the surrounding homes. Having such a bare

What we are taught and where we come from, makes up the majority of who we are and helps influence the decisions we perform in everyday society. Proudly, I’m from Kings Mountain, a modest place, as a result of living here it has impacted me in a variety of phenomenal ways, from the way I communicate to the way I act. Due to the fact of living in Kings Mountain, I have been introduced to a variety of opportunities, for example, my current school, Cleveland Early College High School. I have been accepted into outstanding programs that, in turn, has helped me to achieve my objectives and future plans. Although, I attend this tremendous school I tend to envision about how it would have been similar to attending a traditional high school, I was originally suppose to represent Kings Mountain High, but I decided that I wished to pursue something outside of what I considered I could reach.

High school was a roller coaster ride for me, from the endless fun of parties to the minor breakdowns and panic attacks that would land myself in the hospital. The pressure and stress got to me and the fact that failing out of the school that I’ve been going to for twelve years with long life friends was coming to an end. Now that I look back at it though it might have been the best decision for my well-being because then I would of not been able to meet the people that I met at Chamblee Charter High School. You would think moving from a private to a public school would be a big cultural shock, you are very correct. Atlanta International School, which was the school I went for basically my whole life, was a very open minded, well rounded, and accepting establishment since the most of the students where from all over the world.

At 5:45 AM the alarm on my phone blared some generic default tone that I had never gotten around to changing. This was probably the earliest I’ve ever gotten up in my entire life. I groggily removed myself from the pile of blankets on the floor that I had been sleeping in and headed for the shower, brushed my teeth, washed my face and searched my near empty closet for something to wear on my first day of school. Although I was absolutely exhausted and there was yet to be any furniture in my room, I was thrilled to be transferring to Pattonville High School in midst of my junior year and living in a bigger house in a better community.

We lived in the North Heights area of Amarillo, across the train tracks and I guess we would considered urban. Growing up in the 60’s we had neighborhood schools, I attended kindergarten at Miss Rosenberg’s Kindergarten, we graduated with white caps and gowns and I was really happy. She was a black woman with a Jewish sounding name, who was our leader who taught us the basic of learning. I attended North Heights Elementary School beginning in first through sixth grade Our high school, Carver High School was forced to close its doors to integrate and become a junior high school by the order the president of the United States. As I mentioned we had teachers that taught us, because they were like us, we didn’t experience a great deal of discipline

There it was, standing in the distance, a tall gloomy gray-colored building. With a few splashes of blue paint added to the dull cement to add color to what would otherwise be a lifeless building. This building was non-other than the one and only Stoller Middle School. I never referred to it as a middle school but more as a prison, it was full of rules that were put in place just to suck away any possible fun from a child’s mind. Maybe I didn’t like the place because I was suspended five times from it.

John’s first day of school started off rough for him. All he wants to do is play basketball and once the season starts he thinks he’ll fit in better. He needed to stay on top of school and was studying at a starbucks. A girl came in and he thought she was very attractive, he went up to her and started a conversation. He asked her to hang out somewhere else some other time.

Why am I still going to this charter school which doesn 't provide transportation? Why couldn 't my dad be here picking me up instead of the hospital? My future seemed highly uncertain and my grades were dropping. I tried my best to power through my newest challenge. I reminded myself of a past challenge of working through and successfully adapting to America.