Square Dancing

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20100929-NEWS-9290375 Thank you to Jennifer Feals from the Portsmouth Herald for putting us on the front page of the newspaper and getting the community excited about what we are doing.

What is a sense of community? A sense of community is an emotional attachment you get when you feel important in a group. What do you gain from having a sense of community? If you are someone like me that has never felt like she was part of a community then you gain a lot from it. What have I gained from having a sense of community? Well, I have gained three things from having a sense of community. I have gained the feeling of acceptance and how to accept others for who they are, I have gained happiness, and I have gained the act of how to be respectful.

I recently had the opportunity to interview the principal of Robert J. Lister Academy, Nancy Roy, and asked her What do you think makes this school a community? "I think that strong emphasis on relationship requires an environment that allows students to practice the skills necessary to be a healthy member of a community or relationship". I agree with Nancy because I feel like I am part of this community.

Square dancing is a community event because the same people attend it. In chapter four of the book Walking with Wolf, Wolf and his wife, Lucky, were involved in a community gathering and that's when they shared square dancing with everyone. Soon after, they started a square dancing class at the school they founded, the Monteverde Friends School. Even though square dancing was brought about many years ago, it is still being taught and used in today's world.

Lady Gaga - "Don't ask, Don't tell"

What interests me outside of school is music and entertainment. I just heard about the Lady Gaga rally that was held on Monday, September 20, 2010 in Portland, Maine.This rally was based on the military statement that says "don't ask don't tell". This statement means that if you are gay they won't ask you, and if you are then you should not tell them or you will be kicked out of the military. She was fighting for their rights as United States citizens. I was reminded of this issue again in an NPR spot this morning on the radio.

The connection between the Lady Gaga rally and the NPR spot that I heard on the radio was that he actually got kicked out for telling his commanding officer that he was gay, and Lady Gaga was trying to stand up for the rights of homosexuals when they enter the military.

Lady Gaga and Wolf have a lot in common. In the book Walking with Wolf , Wolf believed in peace but no military, and Lady Gaga believes in peace throughout the people. W0lf went to jail for his beliefs in peace and then he moved away to a place where there was no military. This week, Lady Gaga held a rally kind of like a peaceful riot. She believes in equal rights no matter if you are homosexual or not, and I believe that everyone is equal and should not be discriminated against for what they believe in or how they live their lives.

Brittney's Mission Statement

Hello. My name is Brittney. I am a seventeen-year old student attending the Robert J. Lister Academy. When my teacher, Bryan, introduced this Costa Rica class to us I was very excited and wanted to go. Then we got to see how the class would be orientated and it looked very difficult but I still wanted to join the class. Now that I am in the class I am willing to do my hardest with the work we have to accomplish and get my fellow classmates and I to go to Costa Rica. This will be a long and challenging course but I am willing to strive to achieve this goal.

The reasons why this is such a big deal for me is because I've never been out of the United States and I think that it would give me knowledge to other cultures outside of the United States. Another reason this is such a big deal to me is because I get to enjoy the reward of success. I know what kind of hard work it's going to be and when I get on the plane to go to Costa Rica I will have been able to see how much I have accomplished. The last reason why this is such a big deal to me is because I have never had an experience like this where it was with a school that counted as class and I find that to be very appealing on a college or job application that I was able to go out of the country. When I get ready to begin the college application process I want to be seen as someone that is committed to life long learning, exciting experiences and successful future. This is what I think this trip can give me. If you would like to support me, our efforts, or our class, please send a check made payable to the Robert J. Lister Academy/ Costa Rica trip attention Bryan Mascio-35 Sherburne Rd. Portsmouth, N.H. 03801

Chapter 3 Blog Entry

The topic of this blog entry is about chapter 3 of the book Walking with Wolf. This is an interesting and thought provoking chapter because of the way they explained things and because of the connections I could make. In this blog entry I will mention two things. The first thing I will mention is what interests I had while reading this chapter. The second thing I will mention is what topic I am doing for my weekly research project.

On Page 25, it was stated that "the ticos themselves are as warm and welcoming as a cup of freshly brewed coffee." I found this to be an interesting comparison. I thought this was interesting comparison because for some people they would not think freshly brewed coffee was warm and welcoming because they might not like coffee. I also though this was an interesting comparison because of how they compared two totally different things, ones a drink and ones a person.

On page 27, it was stated that "In November of 1950 the Quakers started moving their families to Costa Rica." I found this to be interesting because it is an important date in history and I tend to find history quite interesting.

On page 28, Wolf stated that "It was very telling to see land when it was dry and looked feasible to settle in and then to see it again at the end of an extraordinarily rainy period when it would have been impossible to bring things in even by plane." I found this to be an interesting fact because of how interesting the climate is and how quickly it changes.

On page 32, it was stated that "This led the group to name their new community Monteverde, or green mountain. I found this to be an interesting meaning to a new community. I also found this to be the right name for the new community because they were living on a forestry type of mountain.

On page 33, Wolf stated that "In many places, natural springs would sprout up and create botomless bog holes." I thought this was interesting because of how the earth can do these things without human kinds help or destruction. Mother nature does incredible things to the planet.

On page 33, Wolf stated that "Albert Guindon was born on August 17, his papa's birthday." I found this to be an interesting couinsidence. I also thought this was a date to remember in the book because it sounded like a very important date.

For this weeks weekly project I will be researching ameobic dysentery. I decided on this topic for my weekly research project because I wanted to know more about what this is. I also decided to do this topic for my weekly research project because it sounded interesting.

In conclusion, I found out a lot of interesting things in this chapter. I also found a good topic for my weekly research project. I can't wait to start my weekly research project because I really want to know more about this topic. I love this book. I can't wait to start reading the next chapter.

Chapter 2 Weekly Research Project

In this blog entry I will be discussing the Service Act of 1940. It required me to do a lot of research because I couldn't find the information I needed to find. This was a challeging first research project for me because of the little bit of structure I had for it. In this blog entry I will mention What the Service Act of 1940 was, what effects the Service Act of 1940 had, and how it connects with the book Walking with Wolf.

The Service Act of 1940 was also known as the Burk-Wadsworth Act. This act was passed by the United States of America congress on September 14, 1940. This act required that men between the ages of twenty-one and thrirty-five register with local draft boards. Local draft boards are people that put people in the military. This, however, will be changed in the second World War. The change will be that the ages differ. The new ages for requirement are eighteen through fourty-five.

The service act of 1940 effected many. Some of the effects it had were that it angered the men that were in that age group terribly. It angered some of them terribly because of the simple fact that they were all for peace and totally against the war. Others were frustrated because they felt like they had lost all their freedom. Some people didn't mind this because they wanted to join the military services anyways.

The service act of 1940 relates to the book Walking with Wolf because Wolf and the other Quakers are against this act. They are against this act because they are pacifist. Pacifist means that they believe in peace and are against war. Wolf and the other Quakers went to jail because they refused to sign the act because of their beliefs.

In conclusion, the service act of 1940 played a major role in Wolf's and the Quakers lives because of their decisions and beliefs. This is the main reason I chose to do this as my weekly research project. I chose this because I knew it had to be important to learn more about for the chapter I was reading. I wonder if Wolf and the Quakers made the right decision to not sign the act? I guess that would be an opinioned answer though.

Chapter 2 Blog Entry

The topic of this blog entry is about chapter two of the book Walking with Wolf. This is an interesting and informational chapter about what time period they were living in and what kind of things they were going through. I will mention two things in this blog. The first thing I will mention is what interests I had and the second thing I will mention is what topic I am doing my research project on for the week.

On page 11, Kay Chornook stated that "One of the first impressions I had of Wolf was that he was a person of great self-deprecation, despite the fact that he was an educated and well-traveled gentleman, a community leader and a nationally and internationally recognized conservationist." This brought interest to me because just from reading the first few pages of this book I would have never imagined Wolf to be self-deprecated.

On page 15, Wilford Guindon stated that "a big part of my learning was social-meeting gals and guys, living with roommates, learning how to share and get along, how to tease and how to be teased, and maybe when not to tease." I found this interesting because I am working on this same skill.

On page 16, Wolf stated that "In my four years at boarding school, the hiking I did was enough to go to Alabama and back to Ohio. A round trip would be about 2,430 miles." I found interest in this because that is a really long distance and to be hiking that distance is incredible.

On page 19, it was stated that "During Wolf's first year at boarding school several events occurred internationally that had a profound impact on the world: Hitler committed suicide, Mussolini was executed, the United Nations was formed, the United states dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and V-E Day brought the end of World War II." I found this to be interesting because he got to live through this time period. Now days this time period is studied in schools and is a very important part of world history.

For this weeks research project I wanted to research the Service Act of 1940. I wanted to research this because it seemed like a very important thing in this chapter to learn more about. I also wanted to do this as my weekly research project because I love learning about historical information.

In conclusion, I found out some interesting things in this chapter that I am glad to have knowledge on now. I can't wait to continue reading this book. It's such a good read. I also can't wait to do my research project. If this book has such a good beginning to it than it must have a very good ending as well.

Chapter 1 Blog Entry

The topic of this blog entry is on chapter one in the book called Walking with Wolf. This book starts off in a very interesting and suspenseful way. I can't wait to continue reading this book. In this blog entry I will discuss some questions I have on the chapter, some things I found interesting about this chapter, and the research I am going to do for my weekly project.

I found a couple things interesting in this chapter. One thing that I found interesting was that Wolf believed that "when you get into this stage of life and start slowing down physically, you have more time to dream. You have the ability to look back as well as forward." I think this is interesting because not everyone at his age slows down physically. Some people at his age are still working and don't have the time to dream. I also found interesting that it said they were following the trails that Wolf and others had cut and maintained for more than forty years. I found this interesting because it suprises me that someone or people would do that for so much time. That shows a lot of dedication.

I didn't understand a couple of things in this book. One was that it said "The mistress he had been carrying on for decades while his wife took care of their family and home in Monteverde." How can someone have a mistress and a wife? Another thing that confused me was when it said "All that rain and consistently moderate temperatures create a growing climate that never sleeps." What does it mean when this passage says "never sleeps"?

The topic I want to do my project on is the American Quakers. I want to do my project on the American Quakers because they were the developers of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Also because of the reason they moved to Costa Rica. I just think it would be a wonderful research topic since we are going to Costa Rica in March. It would be a good thing to know about the history of Costa Rica before going on a school trip.

In conclusion, there were a couple interesting things to me in this chapter. I hope to find more interesting things throughout this book. I also had some spots in the book that were a little confusing to me. I can't wait to start my research project on the American Quakers. This chapter was a good start to a book which makes me want to continue reading further.