Special Edition Newsletter:

What is the Student Spotlight?:

After being blown by some student work a teacher showed him, Mr. Llewellyn decided we just had to find a way to feature our students. They never fail to impress us around here. This special edition of the newsletter seeks to share with you some of the great work being created by our very own Lamar students. In the second semester, we will seek to feature our students within the weekly newsletter as their work continues to flourish at Lamar.

Eleanor Greene has Vision + Voice:

How does it feel to be in 6th grade, and already a published poet? Just ask Eleanor Greene! Ellie entered a poem into the Vision + Voice poetry contest last year, and won. In spring 2014, the Austin ISD Office of Academics, Austin Community College’s Division of Arts and Humanities, and KLRU partnered to launch the Vision + Voice poetry contest—an enrichment strategy of the Literacy Action Plan. Over 800 students participated in the contest. One winning poem was selected per grade level by a panel of published poets.

Here’s what the young poet had to say about her experience “Last year, in fifth grade we had a really fun assignment. Each of us had to write a poem about something scientific. I knew what to write about at once. ‘Something nice and poetic, but with endless scientific possibilities.’ I thought. ‘The SUN!’ my brain screamed! So with the help of my amazing English teacher, I wrote my poem.”

Poems of students who won at their grade level were paired with an Austin Community College (ACC) student’s artwork to be created into a poster. Ellie’s poster is hanging throughout the campus.

A reception was held on September 19, 2014 to honor the contest participants. AISD’s Channel 22 recorded the event, and it can be found at http://vimeo.com/108953440. Winning poets were also recorded at KLRU studios Videos are online, were played at the reception, and are part of KLRU’s Arts in Context program. Check out the videos at: http://video.klru.tv/program/voice-vision.

Winning poems and honorable mentions were digitally published in Voiceprint, the Austin ISD digital printing press: www.voiceprintaustin.org. Poems will also be printed in an anthology to be distributed to campuses.

The picture included in this article was taken by Ellie’s parents, and shows her holding up the poster with her award winning poem. Wow! We are just so impressed with this writer’s accomplishments.

Lamar Middle School & Fine Arts Academy

Student Spotlight

Lamar Artists:

Each month the Lamar Art Department features a student artist’s piece in a display case at the front of the school. The display is found to the left of the library entrance. Take a look at the November work along with their artist’s statements.

Gabby S. -7th grade (Pictured below) “I think that my artwork represents my imagination and creativity because I really like patterns that resemble nature. I used a variety of warm and cool colors on each hand to show how different they are. I had to decide what designs and colors I wanted to use and the position of my hands. My goal was for all of the lines to be neat and clean and for the colors to be bold and well colored.”

Sarah R. -6th grade (Pictured top right) “We learned about how the Buddhist monks created their mandalas with sand. This made me take my time and concentrate just like the Buddhist monks. Many different skills were implied. I used radial symmetry, warm and cool color schemes, geometric shapes and blending colors together by just using oil pastels. This project represents me by showing how I tried to blend tiny areas. I always try to be unique and try my hardest on everything.”

Addie S.-M.-6th grade (Pictured below) “My goal was to create an abstract drawing of tools in the art room using warm and cool color schemes. I tried to keep a really clean composition by coloring neatly inside the shapes. I used Prisma Colors because it makes the colors more vivid. I used cool colors for the positive space and warm colors for the negative space. The colors unify the piece and make it pleasing to the eye.”

Getting Creative in Science: Our science department works hard to keep their assignments fun and engaging for their students. Recently, the science students had the chance to display their knowledge of the elements while trying their hand at creative writing. The assignment was to write a short story imagining that the elements were characters in Periodic Tableville and they were looking for a way to become molecules. They had to incorporate pieces of evidence that a chemical reaction occurred and why the element character wanted, or did not want to become a molecule (number of valence electrons). Check out the following story written by Sutton Ballard.

A Tale of Chemical Reactions There once was a man named Carbon. Carbon

had four cats but all his life he had always wanted eight cats. With only four cats, he just wasn’t happy. Carbon was also lonely living by himself. One day Carbon was sitting under a tree and he thought of an amazing idea! “WHAT IF I MARRIED SOMEONE ELSE WITH FOUR CATS :O” he thought to himself. Then all of a sudden an apple hit him on the head, and when he looked up, a beautiful woman was walking by with four cats. Carbon walked up to the lady and said “Hello, my name is Carbon, I’m sorry to approach you like this but you are an extremely beautiful woman. And I like your cats”. They smiled and blushed. “Thank you. My name is Silicon” she said. Carbon and Silicon went back to Carbons house at 2-4A Street. “Wow!” Silicon said, “We were neighbors and didn’t even know it!” she exclaimed. “Really?” Carbon asked “Which house is yours?” Silicon pointed to a cute little pink cottage at the end of the street. “Cool!” The next day, Carbon and Silicon went over to their friend Xenon’s house at 5-8A street. There they talked about how they met and past relationships. “Yeah, before I met you, there was this girl I liked named Tin. She was cool and all and we hung out but I know she didn’t like me. But when I met you, it was like a chemical reaction happened! Its like I had one life and it got turned around when you walked into it. I got a new life with new thing just like when molecules rearrange to form new ones. The evidence was clear. I was happier, like the colors went from gray to yellow. Also I’m not as angry all the time, like when chemical reactions form heat or coldness. And this relationship seem more solid, like a solid formed and its keeping us together. Another thing is its like a gas formed, and the gas was pure love.

We never fight, we always just love each other like we should” Carbon concluded. “Awww” everyone else replied. “Yea that was kinda cheesy though” Carbon says. One day Silicon and Carbon were hanging out with their friends, Xenon and Hydrogen. They were both so happy for the two newlyweds. “I am just so happy for you guys!” Xenon said. “Thanks!” the couple replied, in sync. “I think it would probably be nice to get married but I don’t really want to. I am perfectly happy just the way I am, me and my eight goldfish” Xenon announced. “I think it would be great to get married! But no one wants to marry me.” :( I only have one dog and everyone else has so many animals. It’s the new thing and I’m just not a part of it, so no one wants to marry me.” :( Everyone then felt bad for hydrogen after he told them that, but they all went home and went on with their lives. And in the end, they were all about as happy as they could get. Except for Hydrogen…

Fin

Future Playwrights in English Class: This fall semester, the 7th grade English department had the opportunity to work with teaching artists from Creative Action on a playwriting unit. Students were charged with the task of creating two characters, and writing a scene that included both a dialogue, and individual monologues. Take a look at just a few of the final projects. Some students kept it clever and light, some students decided to show off a darker side of their writing; but, all students were impressive.

The Three of Us By: Graceyn Garza

Scene 1: Jane’s Monologue (Jane has a phone to her ear and looks tired/ done with it) JANE: (on phone) Look just- just meet me there okay? (gibberish on the other line) okay whatever, yeah bye. (hangs up) Okay Jane, just do it. Tell her the truth. She’s been really confusing lately! One minute she’s the same old Blythe then she’s… I don’t know. Evil Blythe? (sigh) It’s like there are two of her or something! I never know which one to expect, And then she always acts all innocent like nothing ever happened. What is with her? I mean, c’mon JPA can’t have changed her that quickly in that little time...can it? I don’t even know what to think anymore. I’m scared to even talk on the phone with her. Sometimes she can be so- so cold. I just need to confront

her. When we meet at “King of Diamonds” tonight I’ll tell her. Over a nice burger, some fries, maybe a milkshake, yeah...ease her into it. We can talk it out, I’m sure she doesn’t realize what she’s doing right? Right? ‘Oh this is so confusing! What if it ends badly? She’ll be broken, and so will I. We’ve shaped each other in so many ways. She bought me my first CD. (smiles) And that one year when she was the only one I invited to my birthday party. (smile falls) But it’s different now... I can’t think like that. We’ve grown up and maybe we’ve grown out of each other. I just have to do what I have to do and face the consequences. I can’t do this anymore, I can’t just sit around and wonder which one of her will show up, I have to talk to her about it. Scene 2: Dialogue (JANE and BLYTHE are sitting on the outside patio of “King of Diamonds”) J: Hey, we need to talk. B: (suspiciously) Okay, about what? J: Look, we’ve been friends for a really long time- B: Yeah since kindergarten. J: Yeah okay well uh- let me start over. We’ve always been be- uh really good friends but lately, uh, I don’t know lately I’m just- I feel like you’ve kind of kicked me to the curb. B: Oh, poor Jane! Not enough “you time” eh? I call you all the time! J: (getting angry) Yeah, but only to talk about your problems! All we ever do is talk about you and your stupid private school problems! B: I work a lot harder than you! Just because you have a substandard life at a substandard school with a substandard boyfriend doesn’t mean I have to be a nothing too! You don’t get to drag me down with you. You may be okay with settling with everything in life but I’m not! (B gives a smug look) J: You know what Blythe, maybe I’ve settled, but pointing that out doesn’t change the facts. And the facts are that you’ve changed and we’ve outgrown each other. (holds up hand) Let me finish. You have been so off and on lately. One call we only talk about you. Then the next two times we hang out you’re perfectly normal, then you’re back to being a jerk, and back again. I’m sick of it! B: (looks confused) What are you talking about? When did we get here? And we always talk about each other equally when we hang out. (frowns) J: (outraged) Yeah like every three times we talk! And what do you mean when did we get here?! You’re just

trying to confuse me and play innocent! Well it won’t work. B: Jane, I’m not the villain here, Last time we made plans you left me alone, feeling like an idiot standing at the door asking your mom where you were! What did I do to make you so-so mad? J: So I ditched you, but that was only because I couldn't stand wondering which of you would show up! As far as what you did to make me so mad.. we already went over that! This is what i mean by not listening to me! B: (softly, confused, hurt) I don’t know what you’re talking about. J: Forget it! You’ll just keep denying it! B: (angry) Fine, whatever. Just keep me in the dark like always! Admit it... ever since I got into JPA you’ve been hesitant to tell me anything. But you sure haven’t been hesitant to give me enough clues to make me curious! I guess it makes you feel superior, or maybe you’re still mad that I got into JPA and you didn’t! (realizes she’s gone too far) B: Jane I-I-I’m so sorry! I just got mad and I was hurt but you know I would never- J: Never what? Cause I think you just did! But whatever, okay who cares about that stupid school? Forget it, and forget you! B: Jane please--- J: No Blythe, I’m- I’m done. B: (hurt) Fine me too. J: Goodbye Blythe. (JANE walks off stage and BLYTHE is left watching her walk away, then spotlight on B) Scene 3: Blythe’s Monologue (Jane is standing alone in front of “King of Diamonds”) BLYTHE: I don’t know what the heck she’s talking about, when we hang out we always talk about each other equally! Is this her way of “sneakily” ditching me? Because, news flash, it isn’t that sneaky. I know for a fact I have not been doing any of the things she accused me of. And what did she mean by “which one of me would show up”? I’ve been the same Blythe I've always been and she knows it. Maybe she just thinks she’s too cool for me. But when I call her, I always make sure we each “get a turn” to talk. She’s my only friend really. I make JPA seem really glamorous and fairytale-esc, but it sucks! Everyone there avoids me like the plague. I don’t even know why. I’m nice to everybody and I smile and make small talk but they always hurry off with some lousy excuse. I just don’t get it! (voice getting wobbly) And now my best friend (pause) my only friend is ditching me too! Nothing is going right! In addition to

now being a friendless loser, I’ve been having memory gaps. Sometimes I don’t remember what I did in 1st period, or lunch or I wind up places and I don’t know how I got there. They’re getting more and more frequent, and I know I should tell someone but what will they say? They’ll think I’m crazy! I know they will! (near hysterics) They’ll laugh and point! And then they’ll send me somewhere awful! Why does this have to happen to me? I’m- I’m so confused, and the worst part is that I don’t have the slightest clue what I’ve been doing during these memory lapses, and that scares me. What if I’ve been doing something awful? But that’s- that’s not me! I wouldn't hurt a fly and Jane knows that, I don’t know why she thinks I’ve done all these things, but I think it might have a connection with the memory lapses. (sigh) Well, all I can do right now is give us both some time to cool down, then I’ll talk to her.

Pacman

By: Benji Juenger

Scene opens: Pacman is huddled in the corner of a dark spooky maze. Monologue #1 - Pacman: (Crying) Oh my Cherry! Why does it have to be ghosts? Why do I have to be trapped in a maze with ghosts?! They’re so scary; they’re like evil, flying, colorful….(He sighs. The wind blows creepily, Pacman continues sobbing—weep, sniffle) and there’s like four of them and only one of me. (Pacman suddenly becomes angry.) HOW FAIR IS THAT!!?! Why do I have to be trapped in this hideous confusing MAZE?! (In his rage Pacman leaps up for his hiding place and scurries away.) Scene opens: Blinkey the red ghost is hovering by himself ruefully eating bananas. Monologue #2 - Blinkey: (Sadly) You can do this Blinkey. (Chew, chew. Whispering.) Dang that was your last banana. (Galiantly) BUT THAT IS BESIDE THE POINT! You are a ghost; it is in your blood! You kind has been brutally slaughtering Pacman since the 1980’s! Com on you do this. You were practically born to hunt Pacmen! (Blinkey flies away, determined to catch Pacman.) (Blinkey rounds a corner of the maze and runs right into Pacman.) Pacman & Blinkey: (Simultaneously.) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (Pacman flees in terror while Blinkey comes to his wits and begins to chase him.) Pacman: Oh no! He’s going to catch me for sure! (Blinkey corners Pacman.)

Blinkey: Ha ha! Pacman I have caught you now! Give it up, you’ve lost! Pacman: Not quite Blinkey, I’ve got something up my sleeve! Blinkey: You don’t have sleeves. You’re basically a yellow ball. Pacman: BE QUIET BLINKEY! You get the point! POWER UP ACTIVATE! Blinkey: (Whispering.) Oh poop. Pacman: MWAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAA! (Gobbles up Blinkey.) I guess I’ve become a ghost myself!

The Undiscovered Duo By Charlotte Evelyn

Monologue #1 (Jamie is sitting at an old mirror in what appears to be a garage. She is admiring herself as she starts to speak) JAMIE: (with much enthusiasm) Welcome to tonight, with Jamie and Phillis! We’ll be putting on a fantastic, brilliant, and hilarious show for you, so get ready! (stops speaking for a moment and soon returns to normal voice level) Okay. That sounds good. Yup. That’ll be the opening. Then we’ll tell all of our adoring fans how much we LOVE THEM! Speaking of fans…(yelling) PHIILLIS! It’s ridiculously hot down here. Where are you with my lemon water? (returns to normal voice level with a look of annoyance on her face) Ugh. Why is she taking so long? How are we going to become comedy mega stars if she can’t pull herself together? I deserve better. (phone rings) Look! It’s my agent! (picks up phone) Yes, this is she. Hi mom. Oh! Th- (she is cut off and stops speaking as her once pleasant expression morphs into a face of terror and rage) What? (her voice gets louder) Not excepted? You don’t understand, Hollywood is calling my name! No, everyone’s confused, I’m hilarious. (stops) You’re just like all the kids in fifth grade. Whatever. You’re wrong. Guess who just booked a show at the public library?! ( she makes a disappointed face) No, mom, me and Phillis. Gosh. Get on my level. Anyway, libraries are perfect for stand-up sh- (cut off again) Hello? (slams down the phone and quickly continues to admire herself. As Jamie’s monologue ends, Phillis quietly crosses the stage to a table, placing the lemon water on the vanity) Monologue #2 PHILLIS: (Phillis is standing by a large wooden table covered in various documents. She seems nervous. She speaks to the audience ) Ugh. I hope Jamie likes our slot

at the library for tomorrow. (pauses to think) The library. Why a stand-up show there, of all places? Well our careers have to start somewhere! Maybe I should practice my jokes. (pulls out an old yellow piece of paper from pocket and begins to read it aloud) Why did the chicken cross the road? (pauses for a few seconds as she looks to the audience with excitement) Because the cross walk was under construction and his car broke down! (she grins and laughs historically for around five second until Jamie looks over to her in confusion) That’s a really good one. (yells to Jamie) We should really use the one about the chicken! (she then picks up a paper off of her desk and looks at it with some irritation) Why do they want to know about our noise level? Eh. It’ll be fine. I’ll just leave that one blank. Unless Jamie disagrees (begins to raise her voice, sounding worried and unsure) I really hope Jamie doesn’t disagree. (she takes a few deep breaths and calms down) I need to get back to work. (raising her voice) The show is almost upon us! JAMIE: Shh! PHILLIS: Sorry.

(We see Phillis and Jamie exiting the library. The appear very upset. Phillis is holding a bag of Goldfish crackers, eating them with much emotion) JAMIE: (nearly in tears) I can’t believe they kicked us out! My life? Done. My Career? Over. This is ridiculous! PHILLIS: They didn’t even chuckle. JAMIE: We weren’t even THAT loud! PHILLIS: Sorry. JAMIE: Thank you for apologizing. PHILLIS: Well, at least our outfits looked good? JAMIE: That’s true. The glitter really did great things for me. And you look nice in tan. PHILLIS: Thanks, yeah, that skirt took me like 16 hours. JAMIE: So… What are we gonna do now? PHILLIS: We could sell snow cones. (long silence Jamie looks at her and rolls her eyes) PHILLIS: Or not. JAMIE: There’s a pet shop over there (she points at a large grey building a few yards away) PHILLIS: (With growing excitement) Oooohh… JAMIE: (dully) Don’t you love turtles? PHILLIS: YES! Did I ever tell you about Samantha? (not giving Jamie any time to respond) No? Well, she was my best friend in High school. Everyone thought it was really strange to have a best friend who also happened to be a turtle, but I thought it made us unique. Anyway, Sammy and I loved to play that card game memory, even though she always won. Then, we would

eat lettuce and hard boiled eggs together like all best friends should. (Jamie cuts her off) JAMIE: Okay, okay. We’ll go look at the turtles. PHILLIS: Let’s go make some new friends!!! JAMIE: So, you’re sure about this? Turtles cant edit scripts or sort papers. I don’t even think they can run tech. I guess we could try. But you’re sure you wouldn’t prefer a cat? PHILLIS: (looks at Jamie with an annoyed expression) Yes. Obviously. JAMIE: Fine. (giving in) Let’s go meet some new friends. (Phillis screams and jumps high into the air) PHILLIS: All of my dreams are finally coming true! JAMIE: I hear you. You know, maybe I can take a break from performing for a while. PHILLIS: Great plan! Let’s name our new friend shelly, after my third grade science teacher. She wasn’t a very nice lady, so if we name our pet after her, it’s pretty much meant to be angelic. JAMIE: Shelly it is. (They walk off stage, Phillis is skipping a smiling, Jamie is following slowly.)

Forensics: This fall our very own Ms. Randall taught 3 sections of forensics science as a semester long elective. Students have had the opportunity to study fascinating aspects of this popular field of study. For the end of semester culminating experience, the class embarked on a research project to delve deeper into one of the semester’s topics that particularly interested them. Students focused on one area of forensic science, and researched the various aspects of working in the field. They also studied a real-life case that highlighted how their field of study helped in the solving of crimes. Ms. Randall collaborated with the librarian, Mrs. Hames, to teach the children how to access and properly use the online research databases provided by the district. The librarian also taught the students how to properly cite their credible sources using MLA formatting. Students could choose from a myriad of mediums to pull together their information, and then present it to the class. Annie Dale created an online prezi about forensic psychology that can be viewed at the following link: http://prezi.com/2jikomipoe1l/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy. Catalina Mendivil and Ruby Henson also studied forensic psychology, and put together a prezi. As part of their research process, these two

students interviewed former forensic psychologist Dr. Anne Kelly. Dr. Kelley worked in the Giddings juvenile detention center. She spent five years in the role of forensics psychologist, and five years as the director of treatment. She now works in Austin as a family psychologist. The full transcript to the interview can be found online with their prezi at: http://prezi.com/0m_gkvcwyobi/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share. Chloe Henderson and Hannah Zuniga—who studied gait analysis—put together a trifold presentation in addition creating life-sized foot mold accompanied by a video documenting the process. Their video can be viewed online at: http://youtu.be/7fYF4K553QA.

Nilava Saha and Andreas Cheng chose to write an article for their final product. Take a look at the turnout:

Arson Investigation: Evidence, Salary, Requirements, Motives

Arson is the act of setting a fire with purposeful and criminal intent. Around 700 deaths are caused by arson a year and causes hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. The punishment for this crime ranges from fines, restitution, probation, and even a life sentence in jail. The forensic scientist who studies and solves these types of crimes are called arson investigators.

Arson investigators look for certain pieces of evidence to tell them about the fire and what happened. The first thing the investigators do is find the point of origin of the fire and then find out what caused it. The fire could be caused by natural causes, an accident, arson, or undeterminable. If the fire turned out to be caused by

arson the investigators role would be to detect any accelerants or explosive near the point of origin. Another way to recreate the fire is to look at the distinct patterns left by the flame on furniture, walls, etc. The most common fire pattern is the “classic V” named for the V shaped burn marks on walls. It starts from the point of origin then spreads in both directions. A helpful tool investigators use is the high-tech computer program FireFlies.

Motives: Arson investigators study the motives of arsons and why they deliberately set fires. There are seven common motives, vandalism, excitement, revenge, crime concealment, profit, extremism, and serial arson. The serial arson is a repetitive fire setter who fits in the mentally insane category of criminals because they don’t have a clear motive or reasoning behind it. Arson is not the most popular way to murder someone but to cover up a murder. The motive crime concealment is when someone burns all the evidence of the crime they previously committed. The way arson investigators tell if a corpse was killed by the fire or was already dead when the fire was started is they look to see if the blood of the victim has high levels of carbon monoxide in it. This means that the victim was breathing while the fire was happening. Suicide by fire is called self-immolation. An Arson investigator get about $53,990 per year, the lowest percent of investigators make as little as $33,920 annually. However the top ten percent make over $87,400 per year. The requirement to become an Arson investigator you need to have a high school diploma, Experience with law enforcements or the fire department, and attend a specialized arson investigation academy. They work for the state police or the local fire department. They mostly work 24 hours a day for each case.

Famous arson cases: Julio Cesar He immigrated to New York City Julio was being thrown out while he was making threats to the security at a social club. So after he bought dollars of gasoline at a nearby gas station and he poured all of the gasoline on the stairs (the only exit) and he threw a match and set the club on blaze after him watching the firefighter trying to put out the fire he went home and took a nap and on his clothes there was soaked with gas. John Orr John Orr an ex-firefighter wanted to become a police officer but didn’t make the cut. His co-workers said he used to chase down burglars and shoplifter in his fire truck but one day he use a cigar attached to a pack of matches by a rubber band to burn down a nearby establishment. He made a total of 700 fires and killed 4 people.

Works Cited

Newton, Michael. "Arson Investigation." Encyclopedia of

High-Tech Crime and Crime Fighting n.d.: n.p.. Science Online. Web. 5 December 2014.

Bell,Suzann. “Arson and Forensic

Science.” Encyclopedia of Forensic Science nd.: n.p. Science Online. Web. 9 December 2014.

Barry Franklin. “Arson Investigator Salary & Job

Outlook.” Forensics Colleges. Hot Science: How Investigators Determine the Causes of

Fires “National Geographic “National Geographic Society. 2014 n.p. December 11, 2014.

Photography:

Our photography students have been learning a lot this semester, and have even managed to get some state wide recognition with their work. We are pleased to announce the 2014 ATPI (Association of Texas Photography Instructors) Annual Fall Photo Contest winners from Lamar Middle School. This year, we had 8 Scotties recognized in the Beginning/Middle School contest area. The contest consists of various entry sections ranging

from Advertisement to Environmental Portrait to this year’s theme, Go! The Fall Photo Contest also had entries for Multimedia and short movies. The judges are professional photographers and filmmakers from Texas.

We are so proud of our students, because their photos were judged with High School students’ work (with over 2,000 entries) from all over Texas. The following students placed:

Photography: Astra Elliot - Honorable Mention (Student Life) Charlie Stone - Honorable Mention (Student Life) Carter Cordes - Honorable Mention (Thematic - Go!) Henry Martin - Honorable Mention (Advertisement) Multimedia/Animation: 1st place - Amanda Lambert 2nd place - Ian Clennan 3rd place - Skyla Riggleman Honorable mention - Amanda Lambert Short Movie 1st place - Magnolia Hammer (Thematic - Go!)  Photography winners are included below. All results can be viewed at http://www.atpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/winners_fall_2014.pdf, and the animations and short movie can be seen on the Lamar Digital Media Vimeo site at: https://vimeo.com/album/2578892

Social Studies Brings History to Life:

A step inside Ms. Gomez’s class reminds us that there are so many different ways to bring history into the present day. Earlier in the semester, students learned about the colonists’ rebellion against their mother country, the British. For one assignment, students "memed" perspectives of either the colonists or the

British. Memeing history allowed students to think about historical perspectives in a fun and interesting way. Chloe Linscomb used an existing meme style to portray Jing George holding "his favorite acts" written on the papers in his hand is the "quartering act, stamp act, and sugar act." Chloe combines both humor, history and artistic ability in this awesome meme.

Recently, students were charged with task of taking of the historical figures they had learned about this semester, and creating a social media page that depicted their life and work as it would look on the web today. Hector Hernandez and William Critendon created a tweet page for the one and only Sam Adams. Two teams tried their hand at Patrick Henry’s Instagram page: Dilynn Von Thies & Damaris Benitez, and Evangelyn Nobles & Imi Wallace. Take a look at the attached projects on the following pages for the clever and relevant finished products.