Mall of America

So I love the Mall of America dont get me wrong but it can be pretty overwhelming. So many stores, so many attractions so many food courts so little time! First you have to choose, do you want to go shopping, the amusement park, the water park, or the aquarium? If you want to do multiples of those you should probably manage your time wisely! I decided I wanted to go to the amusement park and go shopping then I had to decide what stores to go to and what rides to go on. It was a very hectic day with running back to abercrombie last minute to buy some perfume, going on the spongebob rollercoaster one last time and getting split up with your friends cuz you had to go to the bathroom and they had to go to a store. It is definitely worth while to go to. But just be prepared to spend the whole day there or go a couple times. You will want to :)

~Mildred

Irondale

So we go to Irondale. Its a five hour bus ride up to Minnesota. We performed then came back to watch the other bands perform. They were good. Really good. They were up to the Valley standards of good. So obviously we werent going to get first place. We were ready for this upset but when we heard our names come in for dead last I think I speak for everyone when I say a mood of utter dissapointment set in. I was very dissapointed. Then I was angry. Why did we even come? Was what I kept wondering. Then the morning after when everyone was cooled down and chilled a little it came to me. My flute lesson teacher told me that it was good that I was learning the music for all state even if I dont get it. It gets me prepared for harder music and the skills I learn while working on it will last forever. We may not have done well but we came and competed with some of the top bands not only in the midwest but in the NATION. Who else has the guts to do that? Not many people thats who. We actually had the guts to work our butts off for weeks and go up there and show them what we got! So we didnt get first place or second...or third and yeah you get the picture but just think how good we will be when it gets to Valley? The answer is really good. First place here we come! (Hopefully lol)

~Mildred

Role Models Shaping the Future

So I was in math class today. Watching the clock willing it to move faster when I got to thinking about teachers here at Kennedy. These were some of the things I thought about.

Dont you hate those teachers that dont teach anything, they joke all hour, get all buddy buddy with you, dont assign any homework and then hit you hard and fast with a huge test that is worth 50% of your grade that practically everyone in the class fails. Then the next day the teacher lectures you the whole hour to "be better students, study harder and ace the test next time around!!!" Yeah these teachers annoy me so much. It's like yeah we will do our job if you do yours! It's as simple as that. Maybe instead of joking around and trying to be our friends get down to business and actually be our teacher! I felt like I was always just barely above water in those classes, not yet drowning but sure as heck not doing the breast stroke either.

The other type of teachers that annoy me are the teachers that go through material way too fast and forget that they are teaching a course, not taking it. Some teachers are too smart for their own good. They try to explain something but forget we dont know it all like them and end up just confusing us even more!!! Then I feel dumb, have a couple breakdowns during the year and eventually just barely get by with a B.

I was sitting in that algebra class realizing though that we actually are blessed to have really good teachers here at Kennedy. For instance my algebra teacher Mrs. P is like the best teacher ever! And she doesnt get enough credit in my opinion. She is called nasty names and stuff and people say that she is hard because she has a no cell phone policy and gives really hard tests but I think that she is a great teacher. She gets at school at 730 in the morning for extra homework help and I mean 730 on the dot! I went in all the time freshman year and she was almost never late. 730 would roll around and she would be there with a smile on her face ready for the day to begin. Thats another thing she always looks like she is enjoying what she is doing. Some teachers I wonder why they even became teachers in the first place. They are never in a good mood and they dont like children but even though math isnt my favorite subject I am always happy to go to that class just because her positive attitude spreads throughout the room. She stays AFTER school too until 315 EVERY DAY! Unless she has a meeting or appointment and I appreciate this alot. Its her attention to detail that I love. She good just give us the work and say there solve it and good luck! But she spends that extra half hour before and after school to make sure that we succeed. She cares about her students that much and that is a quality that makes a good teacher. Today she handed back our tests and a small percentage of the students did get D's and F's and she made it a point to tell them that she was here to help them. She didnt call them stupid dumb or not worthy or anything she simply said that "This tells me that you struggle with math because this is a review of algebra 1." She finished by telling them that she was there before and after school to help and get this. "If my schedule doesnt work for you then I have the name of some great math tutors to give you too. Or you can change to a teacher that can accomodate your schedule better." She cared enough to refer a math tutor or send them to a different teacher. She is that selfless that if they succeed with a different teacher she is willing to do that. Another thing is she works just as hard as us. I hate teachers who give out work and never take the time to grade it. If we are willing to work hard enough to get this stuff done for you then you should be willing to work just as hard to get it back to us. She almost always has her tests graded two or three days after we take them depending on the length of them. And these arent those easy scantron things that take five minutes to go down and grade they are written out tests. She also has a unique way of grading it, she doesnt just give us credit for the right answers (thereby awarding cheaters) she goes through ALL of our work and gives us points for working it out correctly. She not only does all of this but writes out every single problem and how much each part is worth on the overhead the day we go over them to make sure we have no questions about it. I was thinking, how long do you think it would take to grade 80 papers, with 30 questions on them, go through ALL of the work, write it all out on the overhead and hand them all back within two days? A LOT! She works so hard. Probably harder than us just so she can see us succeed. I hate math, I hate everything about it. I am horrible in math too yet I got 102% on my last test and am getting an A in the class and found myself looking forward to 6th hour every single day. Yeah some would chalk that up to a good attitude and solely base it on the students work ethic. Not me, I know my work ethic and I know that it is the help of a wonderful teacher to get me to be all I can be. Thanks Mrs. P! You rock!

So when you get annoyed that a teacher caught you texting in class or you failed a test remember how hard your teachers work to watch you succeed in class. And thank them when you get the chance. They have earned it. (Hopefully you dont have sucky teachers but if you do, go ahead and tell them that. haha Just kidding dont that will get you in trouble, but if you dont care go ahead and do it your classmates will thankyou! I hope I dont get in trouble for writing this....Im sorry teachers! But technically it is their fault if their students dont like them, well most of the time unless the students are slackers and just goof off and get mad because the teachers wont let them text during class or whatever but now I am just rambling but hopefully I will get more words for my blog word count this week :) woot woot.) Anyway I forgot what I was saying so I will just end by saying MOST teachers work really hard. Yay :) Okay the end.

~Mildred

Dissapointed...

So the homecoming football game was full of energy as usual. I get that. I was excited too. But it made me extremely mad when we went out on the field to play for halftime (when I say we I am referring to the marching band) and the Xavier and Kennedy student sections start having a "Let's see who can cheer the loudest and tick the band off the most" contest. To me that was just rude and tacky. Seriously? I know that at the beginning asking non of the students to talk so they can hear our meager beginning was a far fetched plea and I was pleased when I felt the roar of talking quiet down a little bit. I was very proud of the student section. Ever since we had that hate article published about us in the Torch last year I felt that the students of Kennedy were starting to redeem theirselves. Now they wouldnt let anyone leave the stands and they had to stay and watch the game. They would cheer for us as we came on the field and left the field, sometimes starting a MAR-CHING BAND, MAR-CHING BAND cheer. Im not gonna lie, it made me feel special :) But the saying goes, two steps forward one step back and that is exactly what happened at the homecoming game. We were doing pretty well and then we stopped to play our third song that we didnt have sets for. Then I hear a loud roar of cheers from behind us. Cool, they are nice they are cheering for us! Little naive voice of Carissa says inside her head. Then they cheer louder and louder to the point where I cant even hear the rest of the band playing and I almost get lost. I had to resist the urge to turn around and give them nasty gestures because I know if I did I would be in for it with Ms. F. Whatever that I could brush off but then I hear from a source that when we were marching off some kid has the nerve to fake punch one of the saxophones in the face complete with a "POW" sound effect followed by childish laughter. Yeah okay we are so mature. GET OVER YOURSELVES PEOPLE. I'm honestly starting to think that you all were raised in barns. Why can't you just suck it up for 2o minutes and show us a little respect. Trust me we deserve it and have earned it! Enough is enough.

~Mildred

Kennedy vs. Xavier Homecoming Game

So this game really excited me. It was homecoming, we had an early out and it was Friday! I was so ready to beat Xavier. Sure I heard some skeptics, well they beat us last year twice! Blah blah blah but I was putting on a more positive attitude towards it. I was ready for Kennedy to claim 42nd street! The game started off with a lot of action. Xavier got a touchdown, Kennedy got a touchdown, Kennedy missed a field goal, Xavier got another touchdown, Kennedy got another touchdown and at halftime we were ahead and winning! Then after halftime Royce Bell got injured and it all went downhill from there. Xavier got a touchdown, Xavier got another touchdown and eventually when there were two minutes left and it was 43 to 17, my optimistic attitude started to dwindle....and we lost. Oh well there is always next year right? Im still hoping the football team will do good and go to state! Go cougs!

~Mildred

What does Kennedy mean to me?

"Homecoming top 7 assembly today" Mrs. Fleer yells at the top of her tower. We all give out a little woot woot because assemblies mean shorter class periods and a whole hour of nothing but sitting and doing nothing. Maybe the occasional text here and there. Anyway we get out early to go to the assembly and they did it a little differently this year as the candidates walked down the aisle instead of Mr. B. reading information about them a video went up on the screen and they talked about their experience at Kennedy as a slideshow of embarrassing baby pictures and highschool pictures scrolled across. I'm not going to lie, I thought it was totally cheesy at first and yes, I was one of the first to burst out laughing. As Max Martino recalled significant moments and life changing teachers he had, Haley talked about her most embarrassing freshman moments, blah blah blah we have all heard it before. Everyons highschool experience is the same. They are scared little freshman who eventually find friends and have a great time and by the time they are seniors they are HOMECOMING CANDIDATES YAY! Fairy tale ending. But as I sat there listening to this sentimental garbage I got to thinking, what DOES Kennedy mean to me? And so here it is.....



Everyone usually starts these things out as I remember walking through the doors my freshman year, being so scared and nervouse. But honestly I remember walking through the doors but I was scared senseless or worried about getting lost at all. I was excited! Finally I was a highschooler!!!! I had been to Kennedy a ton of times before so I knew my way around and I knew a few people because I had been to band camp the previous two weeks. So this was technically my third week of school. I was a nerdy little freshie though, this I cannot deny. You know those locker shelves? That everyone uses in Middle School but no one uses in highschool? Yeah I didnt get that memo. So I walk into the foyer new backpack and dorky neon purple locker shelf in hand with the highest of expectations. It was actually a very happy day for me because I was meeting up with all of my friends from Elementary school that I left when we made the split between Middle Schools. All in all that first freshman day wasnt that traumatizing for me. But when I come back for that five, ten, twenty five?, year reunion and they say what do you remember the most or what sticks out the most in your mind from highschool Im going to have to go with the crowd on this one and say the memories and friends that you make. You know its really important to chose the activities you want to participate in wisely. I can't speak for other extracurriculars but I have to say if it wasnt for band I wouldnt have made it through first trimester of freshman year. And I know you are asking well what does marching around a field have to do with getting around in school? And that isnt really what I mean, its the friends you make. The relationships you create. Marching band is like one giant family. Everywhere I went in the halls I saw a smiling bandie face willing to throw a smile my way or a wave. This helped me to feel accepted and more at home in such an unfamiliar place. One of my friends always talks about not doing anything over the weekends because they need to study. "I am not partying at all this year, I am studying because after this is real life and we can't goof around!"-Shabana (not the exact quote but you get the gist. While I half agree with this quote there is always that extra 50% I dont agree with. Dont get me wrong, I am a hard working student, I try my best and study and get mostly A's. I want to succeed in school as much as the next person but I feel you need a good balance between work and play. Yes, after these next two years we will be thrown into the real world to fend for ourselves and while I know this will be a tough transition do you want to look back on your highschool experience and only be able to say..."Well I sure studied a lot." I dont know about you but I dont. Thats why I will always remember those nights of cramming for ap tests but that great feeling of relief the next day during a marching band competition. I will always remember that fear of giving a speech in language arts class but that rush of adrenaline when you step on the stage to perform a play. I will not forget those long hot tennis practices but will always remember the birthday parties, the laughs and the inside jokes that will NEVER fade between me and my friends. Eventually we will graduate from school, that one test you failed will go away, the paper you forgot to turn in you will forget about, that audition you messed up that feeling of failure will eventually wear off, but the small moments of laughter with friends between classes, the late night phone calls and texting sessions, and the feeling of accomplishment after you have had a good show will never leave you no matter how old you get.

You'll forget about the tests you failed but you will never forget the friends you didn't study with ;)

Dedicated to all my friends :) Love you guys!

~Mildred

I Love You Your Perfect Now Change and Almost Maine

So another thing that is happening at Kennedy is the Fall Musical and the Fall Play! The musical auditions were at the end of last year and there were a ton of students that tried out. An audition consisted of preparing a song that Mr. Yuska gave you to practice and you could choose between two scenes of the play to act out with a partner of your choice. Sometimes there are callbacks sometimes there are'nt. For this particular try out there were not and the cast list went up right away. For this show there is a cast of 12. Briana Larson, James Odegaard,Caitlin Magee, Tanner Munson, Marie Treangen, Lars Lee, Katie Reysack, Josh Siegel,Liz Sankey, Nick Arceo, Aubrey Heller and Keenan Wilson with student director Jill Pereboom and of course you can't forget the orchestra Rachael Dean and Sean McQuade. With so much talent this is sure to be an outstanding show! You can go to see this show October 1st and 2nd at 7pm and October 3rd at 2pm and 7pm. The Auditions for Almost Maine were the second week of school. This time there were callbacks. Director Danny Yuska said that he chose this show because it kind of tied in with the themes of I Love You Your Perfect Now Change. They were both romantic shows about love and dealing with the hardships that love brings. The cast list for that show is currently unavailable. With these two great shows on the way you probably are wondering how the theatre department can top that! Well just wait and see. Playtime Poppy's "A Year With Frog and Toad" shows in December and then the 209-2010 Speech Season starts with just as much energy as ever! So if you are looking for a good time go to see one of these amazing shows at Kennedy!

~Mildred

Homecoming Week <3

So it's homecoming week next week. Let the crazyness insue. Homecoming week in highschool language means, wacky themed dress days, overboard of school spirit, even less attention payed in class than usual and a LOT of energy. The week starts out with lazy day. This means that if you are brave enough to put on some footy pajamas, style your hair in the messiest way possible and carry around a stuffed teddy bear to all your classes all day, you have school spirit! :D Now if you are like me you still like to participate but you tone it down a bit and put on your cougar sweatpants a t-shirt or sweatshirt and throw on some flip flops and call it good. Tuesday is my personal favorite, crayola day. This is when each class (freshman, sophomores, juniors, seniors) all are assigned a color. The Juniors color this year is red. I'm not sure about the others. It gets especially fun when we have assemblies on this day (ex. Homecoming Royalty assembly) because you really get to see which class has the most spirit. Wednesday is usually different every year, this year it is animal print day. Now if your fashion sense is anything like mine, you dont have a single thing in your closet with any type of animal print on it. I'm really hoping someone will go all out and dress up in a gorilla costume for Wednesday. Just for fun haha. So I'm thinking I will skip that day. Thursday is jersey day. Self explained, the time old tradition of the football players giving their jerseys to the girls (usually their girlfriends or the girls they like) just another excuse for the girls who dont get to wear them to be called outcasts. The football players wear the home jerseys, the girls wear the away jerseys. Pretty stupid tradition in my opinion. All thats promoting is relationships and dating in school which they turn around and repremand us for when they see us "PDAing" in the hallways. Way to be hypocritical. This to me does not show any type of school spirit, its not like you can chose. Some people though wear other jerseys like last year my Biology teacher wore a soccer jersey, and some people wear professional football jerseys that you can buy in stores. Friday is the green and gold day. This is the one that people usually go all out on. Girls and guys alike show up decked out in pounds of green and gold mardi gras beads, neon yellow and green knee high socks, facepaint and even sometimes green and gold hair! Yes this is where there are no rules, its a free for all. These are usually the most hyped up days to because its the day of the game. Now these special "fun" days arent all homecoming has to offer. There is always a parade on wednesday night. Myself being in the band I have never actually seen a full parade with the floats and everything but I have seen the floats getting ready and stuff and it certainly is fun to watch. You have club organizations, committees, drama floats, football floats, dance team floats everything the student body can come up with and the best part is everyone is represented, there is no one team or organization that is left out that didnt want to be. Also on Friday's there is usally something special. This Friday is a half day, last year it was a half day and they had blow up boxing rings, rock walls and food so thats what I am expecting this year too. Homecoming week is a lot of fun but the thing I like about it the best is that it gives the school a reason to come together and unite as one. That night at the football game there are no jocks, nerds, preps, emos, cheerleaders, or populars or whatever stereotypical group you can think of. There are just cougars, and proud ones at that. GO COUGS!!!!

~Mildred

Ready Set March!

So school has started. Girls swimming has started, cross country is in full gear, we have already won one football game and homecoming is...*gasp NEXT WEEK! WHAT?!? Kennedy is up and running again and all the activities are in full gear. One activity that kind of slips by the radar though is marching band. Yes marching band, loved by all except the soccer team...haha. Marching band actually started in August. With the dreaded BAND CAMP! A full week, Monday through Friday of 8am to 5pm marching in the hot sun, playing for hours on end with half an hour lunch break....if you havent figured it out by now its a pretty fun time. Anyway this year we are doing things a little differently. We are not marching the freshman, and we dont have a zero hour practice anymore. This makes our band smaller and decreases the number of rehearsals we have. Many people have been asking if we are going to pull it off. Mrs Fleers response..."Oh yeah, we're fine." I sure hope we are! We played at our first football game last friday. It got a thumbs up from the crowd and a thumbs sideways from the directors. Our marching was good but our sound needed a little push. It needed to be louder. As of now we have our first and second songs memorized and on the field. We hope to get number three marched and memorized by our first competition at Johnston on Saturday September 18th. Our Johnston show wont be scored but we will be judged and recieve critique. This is a good warm up for the coming season. If you would like to see the marching band for yourself and find out how amazing we are you can go to the next home football game and instead of going to buy a hotdog....stay for the half time show and watch us :) You wont regret it!

~Mildred

All About Hailee

Well the most important thing you need to know about hailee is her obsession with Matt, Bryan, Steven and that other random drumline instructor. Just like me :) I have to admit they are pretty hot!!!! Anyway Hailee loves them so much ahah. She is in cross country and love marching band almost as much as I do!!!! She wanted to be amish in 5th grade with me and she loves to eat junk food. She freaks out a lot too. Hailee calm down!!!!!!!!!!

~Carissa

My Very First Blog!!!

Hi :) This is my very first blog! This is so cool! Okay so I don't know what to write about so I'm just going to post this anyway to see if it works :D.

~Carissa