Reconstruction

Reconstruction started in 1867 and it is an act that laid out the process for readmitting Southern states into the Union. After Lincoln was shot, president Andrew Johnson had to try to bring all the states back together again, after the Civil War divided them into South and North.

The North seems to just give up about 3/4th of the way through, that to me seems like a bad choice amongst the people who are the African Americans only help trying to be free. They just give up and say oh we have done enough for you, deal with it yourself.

It is relevant today because just 13 years ago, there was a vote to keep people from marrying opposite race's. Around 30% voted to keep it intact, that tells America that there are still racial problems whether they are hidden or not. "Today, racial segregation has been outlawed, blacks vote on the same terms as whites, and more black Americans hold public office than ever before." (http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/reconstruction/epilogue.html)

*gasp* not safe to swim??

"The state has funded the program since 1999.
Thousands of people visit San Diego beaches each year.
The ocean testing helps alert swimmers when it's not safe to swim."

This is a small excerpt from "state resumes paying for beach water testing in San Diego county". you can read the entire article at http://www.kpbs.org/news/2009/jul/10/state-resumes-paying-beach-water-testing-san-diego/.

This article does not actually tell you any information about how horrible the water actually is. It is not giving us actual statistics. This article is just telling us the bare minimum, its trying to conceal the truth about how bad the water actually us. 'This definitely relates to our class because we are learning about how to test the water and get the actual amount of bacteria in the beach water. This is basically what we will be doing for our Media Saves the Beach project.

Media saves the beach!!

some ideas i have for media saves the beach is to just go and clean the beach, pick up trash and check the water. I'm not sure how we could fix the water problem thought i think that would be pretty hard.

the project i am most interested in would be photography. i have always loved taking pictures and editing them but i am not willing to take my camera to the beach, unless it can be in my own time. i have a really nice camera and it takes awesome photos!

final product of american icon project

I first heard of Ryan Hall when I was a freshman. I was new to cross country and was desperately trying to get in shape for my first race in 2 weeks. My XC team held a 3 day trip to Big Bear where anybody who kept up with their running log, could go. I went so I could improve my running. I tried to persuade some of my friends on the team to go, but none were up to it. I went to big bear and I was the only freshman girl to go. Being the freshman I was, I was terrified.
Those 3 days at Big Bear changed my whole high school experience. I realized how much a team can bond in just 3 days, I was able to participate in a program called “move a million miles for Ryan Hall” and to help participate in that program I had to up my game and run with the girls varsity team. Those 3 days were the painfulness experience I had ever gone through, both mentally and physically. I was drained by the time I got home, but was so excited to tell my family about my experience at Big Bear. The first time I had ever heard of Ryan Hall was in Big Bear, freshman year.
Ryan Hall popped up in conversations all the time after that year at Big Bear. My sophomore year I went to Big Bear again, Ryan Hall had just passed the Olympics trial and had a time of 2 hours 3 minuets, he won first place in the Olympics trial. We had mandatory meetings every night on the cabins porch, but on the 2nd night Myette, our coach yelled at us to hurry up and get everyone in the small room with a TV. 60 kids and 10 adults cheering and yelling, all crammed in that room watching Ryan Hall win bronze in the Olympics. I felt so proud to be in Ryan’s home town of big bear, watching him complete his own dream of being in the Olympics. The best night of my life happened there. Ever since then I have always thought of Ryan Hall as my inspiration to being the runner I am today.
Last year I participated in an organized protest called “The Rescue,” that supported young boys in Uganda Africa who were being abducted from their home. We were supposed to be rescued by someone well known. Ryan Hall rescued us. I was ecstatic that he would come to “The Rescue”! But he came, and gave a speech about protecting the boys in Uganda. I dragged my friend Elena over to meet him and take our picture. I wore my XC jacket and he mentioned it and I told him I was a sophomore in school and ran for the XC team at Patrick Henry high school. Elena then snapped a picture and the rest of the night I freaked out. Ryan Hall has always been my running inspiration, and I inspire to be like him when I grow older.

Micheal Meyer. “The last days of old Beijing.”

USA track and field. 23 June 2009. 10 Sept. 2009. .

The ryan hall story - 2008 olympian. 6 May 2008. Web. 10 Sept. 2009. .

REFLECTION!!

During the American icon project I learned that I can still write a good sized essay even after summer break. A writing technique that I used was to activate my verbs and avoid ending in -ing. I used both of these thoroughly in my essay. On my second draft I went through my entire essay and circled every single word ending with -ing, in purple. Then I tried to rewrite every single sentence that had words ending in -ing. i then needed to activate the verbs that needed to be activated.

If I had time for one more draft I would send my artist statement out to a couple of my friends and have them revise it. One sentence I am very proud of is "There were 60 kids and 10 adults cheering and yelling, all crammed in that room watching Ryan Hall get bronze in the Olympics." I think this sentence is very good because I tried to describe everything that was happening in the room, I think it is very descriptive.

rough draft picture

blog number 4!

The feedback I recived in todays critique was very helpful. Shannon critiqued my artist statement and really told me to just lay down why I like Ryan Hall so much and how I aspire to be like him. I knew I had to put that in I just did not know how to put it down on paper. Shannon really helped me be able to get my words to come out right.

Rough Draft Artist Statment:

I was a freshman when I first heard of Ryan Hall. I was new to running and was desperately trying to get in shape for my first race in 2 weeks. My cross country team held a 3 day trip to Big Bear where anybody who was keeping up with their running log, could go. I wanted to go so I could improve my running. I tried to get some of my friends on the team to go, but none were up to it. I ended up being the only freshman girl to go and being the freshman I was, I was terrified.

Those 3 days at Big Bear that year changed my whole high school experience. I realized how much bonding a team can do in just 3 days, I was able to participate in a running program called “move a million miles for Ryan Hall” and to help participate in that program I had to up my game and run with the girls varsity team. Those 3 days were the painfulness experience I had ever gone through, both mentally and physically. I was drained by the time I got home, but was so excited to tell my family about my experience at Big Bear. That was the first time I had ever heard of Ryan Hall.

Ryan Hall popped up in conversations all the time after that year at Big Bear. In sophomore year I went to Big Bear again, Ryan Hall had passed the Olympics trial and had a time of just over 2 hours, putting him in first place. Every night we had mandatory meetings on the cabins porch, but on the 2nd night Myette, our coach yelled at us to hurry up and get everyone in the small living room. There were 60 kids and 10 adults all crammed in that room watching Ryan Hall get bronze in the Olympics. I felt so proud to be in Ryan’s home town watching him complete his own dream of being in the Olympics. That was one of the best nights of my life, ever since then I have always thought of Ryan Hall as my inspiration to being the runner I am today.

Just last year I participated in an organized protest called “The Rescue,” that supported young boys in Uganda Africa who were being abducted from their home. We were supposed to be rescued by someone well known, like a celebrity or person in office. Guess who rescued us! Ryan Hall! I was ecstatic that he would come to a puny thing like “The Rescue”! But he came and gave a great speech about sticking up for the boys in Uganda. I have always liked Ryan Hall but just seeing him support something that has also been big in my life, well I was over the moon. I ended up dragging my friend Elena over to meet him and take our picture. I just happened to be wearing my cross country jacket and he mentioned it and said something, I told him I was a junior in school and ran for the cross country team. Elena then snapped a picture and the rest of the night I freaked out. Ryan Hall has always been my running inspiration, and I inspire to be like him when I grow older.