Quick and Healthy (163)

          As teenagers, we always hit the snooze button to get more sleep and then end up rushing out of the door at the last minute. We are always told that we need a good breakfast before we head out to school in the morning but because of the time crunch, many teenagers settle for unhealthy substitutes. Taking a zero hour for many years, i feel like i have perfected the art of running late but i still want to eat healthy so i chose one of these many options instead:
-Smoothie Bowl (strawberry smoothie in a bowl topped with granola, blackberries, blueberries, and chia seeds)
-Chobani Greek yogurt
-banana or apple
-granola bar
-Pomegranate seeds
-bagel topped with organic peanut butter and raspberry preserves.
-A piece of wheat bread topped with organic peanut butter, banana slices, local honey, and chia seeds

        There are many more but the point is to just get something quick and healthy to fuel your brain for the day.

STRESS RELEASE (621)

        In the upcoming week the students of Kennedy High School are yet again victimized by the ugly Iowa Assessments These standardized tests that allow the state to see our progress and  compare students are given to all students in Iowa. At our school, 9th, 10th, and 11th graders take these tests and run off of the 2 hour delay schedule for the three days (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) that we are given them. This schedule gives us 30 minute classes and yes, no SMART lunch leaving kids with activities after school stressing out wondering how in the world they will get it all done.
      If you are one of these kids with work, sports, or other activities you will get stressed this week no doubt. There are some things that you can do to try to curve this stress so your week can flow just as the others:
- Try using a planner. Buy a cheap one from Target or you can even just use your phone, but this really helps. Writing down what you need to do every day and checking it off or even just planning out your day can really help you feel better about what you need to do and be less clustered.
- Eat right. Fruits, yogurt, veggies, and healthy food will help you feel better and smile. With healthier foods that give you brain power, good eyesight, and other health benefits. Also, healthy food gives you a healthier body which gives you self confidence to make for a great day.
-Take time for yourself. I know the days get busy and this week you might feel like you have no time at all, but you have to take even just a few minutes a day to make yourself feel better. Get yourself a coffee before school, make a good breakfast, go to bed early, take a hot shower, drink some tea. Something to make you feel good about yourself and keep you motivated to get through the day,
-Turn your phone off for the day. This one is super hard for me to do because I, like many of my peers, use the few minutes before the class ends everyday to check Twitter or Instagram. If we used those minutes to get a start on our homework, we could clear up some time that we would be using outside of school to get it done. This one might be hard but our phones are really a huge distraction and it would really be helpful to just turn them off.
- Go for a walk or just go outside for a little bit. The fresh air and sun can really make a difference in how you work, After a jog or run, your brain functions better and faster so you could do this before you start your homework to make for a more progressive study time. If you have a dog, like I do, and have to do chores like walk it, this is like killing two birds with one stone.
-Breath. It may be probably the last thing you are thinking of these days but honestly just take deep breaths when you need to. It will help a lot and you need oxygen to keep your brain going and to keep good thoughts. Don't let anxiety get the best of you. Breath.

With all of these techniques to release the stress of being a busy teenagers, i hope it helps you in being successful this next week. Take your time on your tests, eat well, sleep well, get a good breakfast, and breath and you will come out on top. Don't let these tests get the best of you. You can do it! Believe in yourself.

Dreams to Dust (302)

       As teenagers, we like to have fun. After a long week of the stress of school and activities the weekend is all we look forward to for a mini vacation. Some of us like to have movie nights with friends, some spend all weekend at sports events or activities, and the rest spend their weekend at a party doing illegal activities. Things such as underage drinking and the use of illegal substances are activities that can easily ruin your future if you get caught, and for some that could even mean losing their job, respect from adults, and even a scholarship to the school of their dreams.

              In today’s society, it is very easy to get even the hardest of drugs. It is also easy to get alcohol and that is what is scary. The drug dogs come to school at least once a month and catch at least one student with something. Some students throw away their future to get high or to get drunk and they don’t realize what it does to them.

              Our school has a strict code of conduct that if you are caught with either then you must sit out or even get kicked off of a team or out a group for participating in this. Some colleges could also choose to rip away a scholarship for one’s dream school just for getting in trouble with the police for illegal activity. Think about if you were in basketball and you were very talented and had a full ride scholarship to your dream school. Would you risk that all for one night out with your friends? That is the problem with kids today. We think about what our friends will think and not about the consequences and how it will affect our future. This needs to change. 

A letter to a future me (553)

Dear me,

        As I sit here with bags under my eyes due to never getting sleep, my mind wanders to how all of this homework will actually help me in my real life. Better yet, what will my life be like? Will I live in a big city making the big bucks and living in a pent house or will I be living in a little apartment here in Cedar Rapids? The future scares me as it should scare everybody because it is 2016. Next year is our graduation year and also the year that we take our knowledge and venture out into the world beyond us to follow our dreams. I hope you have followed yours. Right now I often tell myself that I need to follow what I would do if money weren't an option and it's hard. Life is kind of hard right now with the stress of school and decision making.
        I wonder how society is when you are older. Do girls still get shamed for showing their shoulders in school or do people go to school naked by them? Has marijuana been legalized? Who won the 2016  presidential election? Please don't say Donald Trump. I hope that society has finally found out what is wrong and makes it right. I hope racism is gone as it is very prominent right now. I hope boys are taught not to rape and that society actually sees rape as a problem because rape is rare;y reported right now.
        Right now i really think i would want to know how i end up and who i end up with. Right now i think i would want to know all about my life. When i will get married. to whom, when i will have kids and how many, what job will i have, where will i live. I always think about this and what i would do if i had a story of my life in front of me and i honestly believe i would not read it. In our opinion, life throws at you only what you can handle and everything happens for a reason. If i lose my job in the future i won't want to know that in a week i will be offered a bigger and better job because i want to learn the value of hard times and good times.
       I also wonder when i will read this. It's so scary to me that it is our senior year next year. The people that you went to freshmen orientation with finally all graduate next year and walk cross the stage to their futures. Each and everyone of us feels like a family by now. We know school spirit and we know each other almost way too much. You know who plays basketball, who is in knitting club, and who honestly is just ready for this chapter to be done. People always say not to take this part of life for advantage and i see why now. We are closing in on our junior year and our friends are closing in on their senior year. Everybody is leaving and leaving us with the legacy of seniors that we need to live on. I am scared but i am also ready for this upcoming year. Let's get it.
-You. 

When the internet goes too far (173)

On friday, my friend showed me a video that was posted on twitter. In this video a male takes a video of a boy named Daniel walking around every day with new shoes which the narrator responds with "Damn daniel". He sports different shoes everyday and wears his white Vans around a few more times which has the narrator say "Damn daniel back at it again with the white Vans". This video went viral in a short time and honestly made me laugh a lot. In recent news reports, it says that Daniel was hospitalized due to someone robbing and beating him up while taking his famous white Vans. They then proceeded to try to sell them on Ebay for 3,000 dollars. This time the internet went too far in my opinion. People are honestly crazy and can't just take a joke they have to actually freak out about something that goes viral. I feel like these people need to go to jail or face a fine if they think it's funny.






http://huzlers.com/damn-daniel-teen-daniel-lara-hospitalized-after-being-beaten-and-robbed-for-his-white-vans/

Today's society (236)

From the TV to the news papers
We are exposed to another tragedy everyday
In a world full of murderers and rapers
What are we supposed to tell our children?
That when we were their age
It was okay for the caucasian police to shoot an unarmed african american man?
A bottle of tea, a packet of skittles, and a hood up
Some of the criteria to let some one shoot
In the cry for self defense, yup.
What are we supposed to tell our daughter?
When she wants to go out in a short skirt
That she needs to cover up because all men think of her as is meat to slaughter?
Girls and Woman shouldn't be imprisoned
By the concept that we need to hide our body for a males disadvantage
With the show of skin and people's harsh words we are beaten
Slut, Whore, Thot
All tossed around like it's ok to say
By boys who got rejected by a girl who said he didn't have a shot
What do we tell our son?
In a world where slut shamming a girl is considered funny
His chances of being a nice guy is close to none
We must teach boys that rape is not ok
We must teach society that we are all equal as one
Since the day the law was made
Skin color is nothing, Gender is nothing, Character is everything

Valentine's Day (155)

Another year, another 14th has come and go.
Valentine's Day is  a pointless holiday in which couples feel the need to chose one day a year to make their significant other feel spoiled and then the other 364 days a year they do nothing. I don't know about any body else, but the holiday kind of blows my mind. Sure i liked getting a present and flowers but i feel like the holiday kinda contradicts the whole point of being in a relationship. Wouldn't you want to show them that you love them every single day of the year? Not just on one cold winter day? The holiday in which is supposed to make single people feel like crap and the ones in a relationship on cloud 9, it just doesn't make sense. Valentine's Day is a pointless holiday that in my opinion is just used for the economy and for making singles feel horrible.

To a younger me (575)

What i wish i would've known before high school:
1. Never sacrifice bringing coffee to school in fear of getting judge, the tiredness will feel worse. Trust me.
2. Your friends from middle school probably won't stick with you, and that's okay.
3. Getting bad grades is not cool and not something to brag about. Being pretty with no brain is like a masterpiece painted on a napkin.
4. Enjoy it. Because it goes by quick (we are already juniors!)
5. Get involved, whether it be choir, sports, or even chess club, find what you love to do and stick with it.
6. Don't let people walk all over you. If you have an opinion say it and say it loud.
7. Never wear a dress and heels to school if it is -10 degrees out.
8. Learn to not care what other people think. They will judge you anyways so why not have the judge you for something you like?
9. Be nice to every one, even your teachers. You don't know what is going on in every students life and being rude could just make it worse.
10. Don't procrastinate homework until midnight because the next morning there will be permanent bags under your eyes.
11. Always bring your own lunch, trust me.
12. Never give up. Even if it's late on a Sunday night and you still have 3 more essays for an AP class, keep going. You will thank yourself in the future.
13. Take school seriously. You are building your resume every single day and setting your self up for a bigger and better future.
14. But not too seriously. You can't allow yourself to be so consumed in school that you miss out on life. If one of your friends need you never say no because of homework.
15. Be a good person, don't be a jerk.
16. Don't be bitter about what life throws your way because everything happens for a reason.
17. Don't go to the party that everyone is talking about. Trust me, a night in bed watching gossip girl is way better than anything in the world.
18. Make Quizlet your bestfriend.
19. Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do something.
20. Learn to love what you look like without make up because you will get more sleep and sleep is way better than trying to impress people you don't even like.
21. Don't stress over stuff that you won't even remember in a year. You failed a test? okay. You were late to a class? okay. Just go with the flow.
22. Don't ever put your happiness into anybody because then it can just be taken from you. Find happiness in yourself and never let it go.
23. Be your own bestfriend.
24. People come and go but when you are at your absolute worst look around and see who is right there, stick with them,
25. Spend time with your parents. Even though we are growing up, they are growing older and we often forget that.
26. If a boy cheats on you, leave.
27. Don't act like school events are lame because they aren't. Roll cougs,
28. Enjoy the ups and downs because one day we will all be off and on our own and we won't be just a 5 minute drive to our bestfriends house. Enjoy high school while we have it and don't take advantage of it.

Teachers and the new budget cut (373)

Imagine that you’re working at your part time job on a weekend and your boss asks to you to work another shift. But the catch is that you don’t get paid and if you say no then you are fired. Teachers technically get paid 7:30 to 3:30 every day and with 30 extra students there will be 30 more of each assignments to grade.

                This is how one of my teachers explained their view on the new seven period schedule next year.

 Instead of thinking about how it is only impacting students, some often forget that the load put on teachers is gaining also. Teachers face longer hours (more students means longer hours grading), a shorter prep period (even though there is an extra class to prep for), and some even facing unemployment. This seven day period is our districts way of saving money by cutting teachers.

To try to have a voice for our students, a group of high school kids from our district (including 21 Kennedy students) ventured to Des Moines to speak to representatives about changing our funding. They came back humiliated. They were led on a tour around the capitol that they weren’t even there for and in all only got about 40 minutes to talk to people. From what the people who said that went, the representatives pretty much didn’t care at all. Of course they got tons of pictures with the kids though to show that they care, right? 
I don't think the governor really thinks about how this is going to impact teachers. More kids means more supplies and teachers can barely afford the supplies that they provide with their own money let alone for 30 more kids. Each year we have to bring in tissue boxes just to have enough to get through the year because we don't have enough money.
How are teachers with kids supposed to tell their children that they got laid off because the state of Iowa doesn't care enough about education? What if this budget cut limits the amount of passion and success a student gets to show because they are taught that education is not important enough to be funded by our own state.
Wouldn't that be a shame.

Super Bowl

         Tonight was the night where everyone in America tunes in and pretends that they care about the two teams going head to head but in reality, if you are like me, you are in it for the commercials and the half time show. Being my favorite part every year and being that I had to blog anyways, I decided to review the show.
         I didn't really understand the theme of the half time show which was quite a bummer. Coldplay opens up in  casual outfit surrounded by flowers and vibrant colors. Nobody really explains this but we are then whisked away into a dark show by Beyonce and Bruno Mars. Dressed in both black and gold, they just didn't fit. They didn't coordinate and it honestly just didn't work for me.
5/10

Budget Cuts (463)

Budget cuts. This is all we have been hearing for the last few weeks. But what is really ringing in our ears is the constant “Our governor doesn’t care about our education”.

                In response to the new budget, Kennedy High School had to make some changes. Instead of a 6 hour school day, the day will be extended to 7 periods. This allows for more classes by one teacher and, yes, means we don’t need as many teachers resulting in a layoff. This announcement came as a shock right before school one morning and then the teachers were released to teach their classes. It broke my heart as my homeroom teacher explained that she would have to search for a new job because she would probably get cut.

                May I also add that this is my third homeroom teacher? All of my friends have gotten the pleasure of keeping their one homeroom teacher for all years of high school and every year my homeroom gets a new one. 

                It came as a huge slap in the face because it scares me that my own governor does not care about my education enough to fund it. We have the funds, but to Branstad something is more important than the future. What are we teaching our kids when we tell them that each year the budget gets lower and lower, leaving longer school days and loved teachers let off because we are not allowed the amount of money needed to maintain excellence. 
               I attend the number one rated high school in Iowa. Kennedy is known for its diversity in students, passion in extra circulars, and of course our AP test numbers and scores. How in the world will we be able to stay at this  level of greatness at our school if we don't have enough money? How will students be able to show their passions during art classes when there are no art teachers? Future careers can easily be shot down if a student doesn't even know they like the activity if there is no opportunity.
              How is the governor supposed to look at all of the kindergartners of next years classes and explain to them that he doesn't care enough about the artist, the astronaut, the singer, or the painter in the group that they don't deserve the opportunity. That he doesn't care enough about their education to show them their passions and their future. I am glad that when i was in kindergarten, i looked into my elementary school education knowing i had a chance every day to go to music, gym, or art. Places where kids around me found their passions and are following them now.
             Fund us. Fund them. Fund the future. Make us believe that you actually care, governor.  

A topic that is often ignored (472)

 In the Torch this week a certain topic came up that is very sensitive but in our society today we have become sadly desensitized to it do to the frequency of it. Rape. It happens all the time around the world and it is rarely reported. Ever since I was little I was taught to not expose my skin and to always wear something that won’t make boys look. Why should I have to take extra time to plan around something that a boy should be able to control. Sadly, this has become the norm.

                If girls wear a short skirt, they are “asking for it”. If girls are out too late by themselves they are “asking for it”. If girls drink too much they are “asking for it”. So as a girl I am always told to be home by curfew, not wear revealing clothes, and to follow a buddy rule when I stay out late. As a girl I feel as though this should not be pushed upon me to have to protect myself from another human being. It’s not my fault so why should I have set and strict rules just because of my gender? Better yet, why are we always skipping over the idea that boys should just be taught that no means no?

                It’s enforced even in my learning environment, also. At school there is a dress code obviously but to me it seems as though it is just pushed upon females. Girls can’t wear crop tops that show a little bit of their stomach, but there was a guy walking around school on country day during Spirit Week with no shirt on, just overalls. Do you think he got sent home or even talked to? Of course not.  This is also carried to sports. It’s ok for guys to work out in nothing but shorts and shoes but in the hot weather, girls are not allowed to work out in our sports bras.

                From a young age, girls are enforced like this so guys don’t have to “suffer” or be distracted at school. All this tells me is that a male’s education is valued more than mine, which is not cool. At all.  Instead of treating women like a piece of meat or looking at us as just a sexual symbol, we deserve the same respect that boys get. Instead of teaching girls that their sexuality is all that matters to men, it needs to be taught that they are so much more than that. Women are worthy of education, of respect, and of everything that a male is worthy of.

                Instead of teaching the “cover up”, “don’t be too late”, and “have a friend with you when you walk to your car”, we should teach “Women are beautiful”, “women are worthy”, “women are not property.”