Today was my last day at Moran and it was very sad, yet very happy. Tears were shed, relationships grew stronger, and it was wonderful. My days at Moran were the best days of my life. Without all of my teachers and fellow classmates, we couldn’t have pulled it off. One thing that I remember out of all other things is a thing that my Cross-Country coach said to me when I wanted to quit. He said, “There are only two words that begin with Q, quantitative and qualitative.” He might have not realized this, but he inspired me to never give up or quit anything. Thanks to all my friends, I mean family, from team 8-2. Good luck in high school!

- Steve O.

I am going to be basing the review of this textbook on The War of 1812 found on page 310.  The textbook does a good job explaining all of the main and important facts in the war such as, The Battle of Lake Erie, The Battle of the Thames, and the Creek War, but it doesn’t mention many specific numbers such as how many freights and vessels the U.S. Navy and British Navy contained at this time. The U.S. Navy contained  6 freights and 14 vessels, while the British Navy contained 34 frigates and 52 vessels. No, this isn’t important to the average 8th grader reading this textbook, but it does matter to someone who is doing a project and needs specific information. I know that if I wrote this textbook, I would have included specific numbers, but put those numbers in a separate, little box upon the page. Another thing that the book made more confusing than it already had to be, was on page 313 when it says that after killing around 2,000 British solders the Americans realized that the two sides had signed a peace treaty 2 weeks before. This makes the reader stop and think, “Well, if it was January 8th and the treaty was signed two weeks prior to this then…..” Wouldn’t it be easier to just put the exact date of when the treaty was signed instead of trying to make the sentence flow better? Other than that the book does a really great job explaining this section. One more thing. If I had to pick a new picture to fit in the book, I would put this one:

Some Britain troops attempting to capture Baltimore.

Did you know that the Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Company started out with two friends who met in middle school? Yes, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield from Long Island, New York. After taking a course at Penn State for ice creaming, they opened their first store in 1978. They only invested $12,000 and borrowed $4,000 to start off the company. In the 1980′s they though that they should expand the business to see where they could go with it. So they did, and the result was a success. They were selling ice cream in grocery stores and by 1981, they became an ice cream making business chain.

“Do great leaders make history? Or does history make great leaders?” I believe that history makes leaders because leaders base their decisions on  the results of past history. Just like George Washington learned things from the French and Indian War that he used in the Revolutionary War. I also believe great leaders make history when they make good or bad decisions, because those choices affect the course of history. Another great leader was George Patton in WWII; he lead his troops to great victory and he based a lot of his decisions on the past. This quote can be interpreted one way or another.

George Washington was an amazing leader. He was brave because he made his army cross the Delaware River, when he hardly even knew what lies ahead. He was intelligent because he knew what time to arrive at the enemy’s fort and that the enemy was celebrating that day, so they would be off guard. He was relentless because even though his troops had small pox, he didn’t have much supplies, and some of his troops gave up on him, he still fought through the war and won it.

Good leaders are the people always at the front of the line while walking somewhere, or the person that starts the conversation in a group of people. Leaders are the outgoing and cooperative people that make good choices and listen to the people around them. Nobody is born a leader, they must become one. You can be born rich and famous, but you cannot be born a leader for it is impossible. One time I was a leader when I went to my cousin’s house to play with them. We did lots of stuff such as playing video games and sledding, but the best thing was that they always listened to me and all of my ideas on what to do next. I felt like a strong leader, which is a really great feeling! Not just one time, but all of the time my sister, Erin, is a leader to me. She helps me a lot and she sets a good example in high school for me to follow. I think that anyone can become a leader as long as they make good choices and they are very cooperative. I also believe that I am a leader and that my strongest abilities as a leader are having the ability to make the smartest choices that I can and that I am reliable. If you didn’t feel like a leader before reading this, then I hope I changed your mind.

     My Dad’s uncle used to travel around the world, and when he did he would buy things such as souvenirs and food. When he bought things he would get change and he didn’t want the change, so when he got home, he gave my Dad all of his left over change from other countries. My Dad took the change and kept it all inside a little box. By the time my Dad’s uncle stopped traveling around the world, my Dad’s box was full of cool coins from other countries. My Dad recently showed me all of these cool coins in his box. I picked up one coin with a hole through the middle and he said, “Keep it.” So I was like, “Thanks, Dad!” The picture below is the coin that my dad gave me. (The coin on the left is just there for size comparison) Comments please. 

Today I opened my presents for Christmas and I got some really good presents this year! I also got some presents for my family such as a hover board for my son and the new flying car for my sixteen year old daughter. They loved them so much that they put on their spacesuit and left the ship to play with them. Although there is no gravity on the moon, they took the new car to mars. “Be back soon, kids!” I said as they left the moon. Well, I got to go because my wife tells me that the family robot needs another electron recharge. See ya!

There are a lot of differences and similarities between the old and new US Navy ships. The old one is called the USS Constitution, while the the new one is called the USS George H.W. Bush.

• The USS Constitution is made of wood, while the USS George H.W. Bush is made of metal.
• The old on is powered by a sail. The newer ones move with nuclear powered engines.
• The USS Constitution was much more colorful than the USS George H.W. Bush. They don’t take as much time painting the ships as they did back then.
• They are both used to fight battles in the ocean.
• They both also stay out at sea for long periods of time.

USS Constitution

USS George H.W. Bush

Did you every hear the story about George Washington and how he cuts down his fathers cherry tree? It is a short story that shows George’s honesty when he tells his father that he cut down his favorite cherry tree. By saying this, his father does not get mad, but gets happy. Why? He says that George should not be afraid to tell the truth, even though the tree had silver and gold sprouting from it. I’m pretty sure silver and gold cannot grow off a tree. Therefore, the rest of the story must be fake. Somebody must have made up this story to show how good of a president George Washington was.