Middle School Vlog
Meet teachers here every Monday and your class day for activities.
Meet your new PE teacher!Coach Wood is an amazingly positive, energetic and cool PE teacher from Tennessee. Try participating with him every day this week. We will post new videos as they come out. Your PE assignment....find another Youtube person or a website that might be a good way for us to stay healthy! Insert the link into the comment section below.
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Our country and our world are in a time of clear turmoil. Our planet is changing drastically due to climate change. Civil rights for people of color and LGBTQ are not moving forward. Einstein once said, "The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." All of us can help, even if it is in little ways. Greta is trying her best. The call goes out to you...what do you feel passionate enough about to do something about? Who/what do you want to stand up for?
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 Francis Bellamy. He wrote it to encourage U.S. citizens to be proud of their country and build unity. It's first version read: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."In 1923, they added... "the Flag of the United States of America." "I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."In 1954, the world was under communist thread. President Eisenhower asked Congress to add the words "under God," This was the last change. Our current pledge is: "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."Section 4 of the Flag Code states: The code that Bellamy wrote along with the pledge indicated that all people should stand and salute the flag. In World War II, the salute too much resembled the Nazi salute, so it was changed to keep the right hand over the heart throughout. School children were required to recite this pledge daily for decades. There was no "opting out." In 2005, a court ruled in Myers v. Loudoun County Public Schools that a Virginia statute requiring daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance does not violate first amendment. However, the statute also provided that “no student shall be compelled to recite the Pledge if he, his parent or legal guardian objects on religious, philosophical or other grounds to his participating in this exercise.” (Hudson) . This means that schools can have the pledge every morning, but they cannot require students to participate. Multiple Jehovah Witness family lawsuits resulted in this decision. The argument still continues, however. Do the words "under god" make this unconstitutional in a school setting to even conduct whole group. Litigation is ongoing. If the first amendment provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," then I believe the conducting of this pledge whole group within publicly funded schools is against the constitution. We have to view all these cases from the viewpoint of all people. If someone is atheist they may feel uncomfortable with the words "under God." Our founders made it clear that the government should not dictate or decide religion. Our constitution provides rights for people to worship (or not worship) however they like. These religious words should be dropped if school children are going to be asked to stand and recite it. "Religion" can be anything today. The Rastafarians worship ganja (marijuana). Should we then allow Rastafarians to smoke weed at school? I believe our founders would say "No." Many Christians argue that America was founded on Christianity. This is not true. It was founded on "freedom of religion." If over time our country became primarily Muslim, these Christians would not be ok with our schools having prayer to Allah at the same time during every school day. So...they should respect the rights of every citizen to conduct their religious activities on their own time, in their own way, outside of state sanctioned environments. This pledge has many positive aspects. It helps us feel unified. It promotes pride in America. These are not bad things. They just need to be conducted outside of the school day. Take a second to watch this video. After watching it...you decide...what is the right decision on the use of "under God.?" Share your position. Work Cited: Hudson,David.ww.freedomforuminstitute.org/first-amendment-center/topics/freedom-of-speech-2/k-12-public-school-student-expression/pledge-of-allegiance/. Sept. 5,2019. Some young people believe that since they do not have the ability to vote...it is a waste of time even educating themselves about elections and issues that will affect our country. I believe young people are far more powerful than they think. Look at what the students from Parkland High School have done. They experience gun violence and have taken that horrible experience and created a nationwide youth movement to enact common sense gun laws. Youth can...and should...share their opinions with adults. Sometimes young people have a clearer view of the country and its issues. What would you encourage the adults in your world to vote? Share your opinions here. Then...lets watch the returns and see if our opinions align with the rest of California. Maui holds a special place in my heart. I have been blessed to spend summers here since 2005. The waters of this magical Hawaiian island draw me to them every day. Swimming through schools of brightly colored tropical fish, daily meetings with my friends the Sea Turtles and diving into forests of vibrant coral, make me feel like I have arrived in Heaven while still on this earth. My beautiful second home is being threatened, however. The visitors sunscreen and inability to relieve themselves outside the water is killing coral and threatening sea life.
In my favorite diving spot, Honolua Bay, the water has the highest bacteria level in all of Hawaii. This is caused by the tourists urinating (and other things) in this paradise. The Hawaiian Department of Health regularly checks beaches for bacteria levels. During the summer months, the bacteria level at Honolua goes drastically up. (See site link below.) Experts believe this is from the increased tourist traffic in the summer months when the water is calm and conditions for snorkeling are perfect. This increase in human interaction brings more urine and feces to the water. This indiscriminate bathroom usage is causing my playground to become dangerous to sealife, coral...and ME! My friends and I do NOT want to swim and/or live in a toilet. Sunscreen use is dangerous for this ecosystem as well. A recent study tells us....”the chemicals in even one drop of sunscreen are enough to damage fragile coral reef systems. Some 14,000 tons of sunscreen lotions wind up in coral reefs around the world each year.” (Wagner) Oxybenzone is a chemical in some sunscreens that kills coral. When swimmers wearing this chemical get in Honolua, it drastically endangers coral. In the 10 years I have been visiting Honolua I have seen a frightening decline in coral health and sealife population. Coral is the foundation of this ecosystem. Fish feed off of it, find safety from predators and lounge in its protective shade. With an unhealthy coral forest, wildlife no longer visit. The huge schools of fish I used to swim with are no longer there. The pods of dolphins that came swimming up to ME are gone. In the past I used to see 6-10 Green Sea Turtles on every visit. Now only 1 or 2 can be seen visiting this bay. These are signs that this beautiful sealife haven is screaming for help. The efforts of ecoactivists have begun to pay off. The state of Hawaii has responded. As of October, the land surrounding Honolua is owned and protected by the state. They have placed portapotties at the entrance to the parking lot. There have been signs posted regarding safe sunscreen use. Yet, I still see tourists slathering on dangerous brands of sunscreen and getting offended when I ask that they not use it. This last summer I only went 1 time due to water quality warnings. Someone must still be using the wrong toilet. More work needs to be done. Please help me with educating people about the danger they pose to our oceans. Can you post 1 social media post educating people on this issue? Can you come up with a statement that will convince citizens of our beautiful planet to make simple changes like….not using Oxybenzone containing sunscreen and relieving yourself in the restroom not the ocean when you visit ANY beach? Share your ideas here. Let’s all help our fellow citizens understand how to use our oceans responsibly. Heroes come in many different forms. All of these heroes, however, have similar heroic qualities. Every year CNN pays tribute to some of the most heroic people in the world through their CNN Hero Awards. After watching the videos of these fabulous people, vote on the CNN website for your favorite hero. Then on this blog, post what heroic qualities you feel this person exhibits. Tell why you chose this person over all others.
The Greeks debated what the goal of life is. There were two main philosophies. Epicureanism believers espoused the idea that the goal of life should be learning new things, enjoying your family and friends and enjoying what life brought. The others, Stoicists, felt strongly that the most important thing in life was to know do the right thing. They felt everyone had a duty to one another and that duty was to do treat each other in an upright way and seek righteousness to be happy.
What philosophical group would you have joined if you were alive during ancient Greek times? Tell why and support your opinion. After seeing the map above and watching the 2 videos, tell whether you think America should or should not agree to take in 20,000 refugees.
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