Snowmobiling

Blog #7                                                                                                              Ryan Hollatz

Snowmobiling

Snowmobiling can be a fun sport, but it can be very dangerous if you do not know what you are doing.   There are trails that you can ride on. They are all marked by had by the members of the snowmobile clubs in the area that you are riding in.  You must have a snowmobile safety course certificate in order to drive your own snowmobile with an adult.  If you don’t have your certificate or you don’t have a licensed driver with you, you could still drive on your own land. You can ride and be safe and have fun at the same time. If you are not careful you could flip the snowmobile and get hurt bad. So be safe and have fun. Do not ever go on the trails by yourself.  If you break down, or get into some kind of accident, you may not be able to get help.  If you still choose to go riding alone, you should tell a person where you are going and how long you will be gone. If you are going on a long trip you should check in every couple hours and make sure that the snowmobiles have the right amount of gas and oil. One of the first times you go riding you should go with some one that knows the trails. If you ride on the trails you should have a sled that is a good fit for you. When riding with other people, you should look back every once in a while to make sure that they are still behind you. You should never break away from the group that you are with. Some of the things that you should have when riding are, a helmet, warm gloves, a jacket, extra hats, snow pants and matches. You should always have a map of the state and a map of the trails. Some of the places that I go snowmobiling are the Wisconsin Dells area, upper Wisconsin and of course around the Ripon area. Right now the trails are open all around Wisconsin, many other states have there trails open to like, Minnesota and Michigan.   I have never been to any other state but I think that it would be fun to go. We have two snowmobiles and they are Ski-Doos. They are very nice and have each one has about 700 miles on them. That is really good because most have a thousand or more miles because they have been ridden more or are older. 

Nightjohn

The point of this paper is to show the difference and similarities between the book “Nightjohn” which was published in 1993 and written by Gary Paulsen and the movie, also “Nightjohn” which premiered in 1996. These stories take place during slavery times in the United States. The main characters’ names in both the book and the movie are Sarny, John(NightJohn), Mammy and C’lel Waller. The setting takes place on a plantation owned by one C’lel Waller. Nightjohn is bought by Waller for one thousand dollars. Nightjohn at his previous plantation tried to get away twice and failed but on the third time he got free away and then came back. He came back because he wanted to teach the slaves to read and write, but it was illegal for a slave to read and write so he taught in secret from Waller and most of everybody else on the plantation. Mammy is not Sarny’s birthing mother, her mother was sold a few years after she was born, Mammy is the caretaker of the young slave children. Sarny is the main character and she is the narrator.

Some similarities in the both the book and the movie were the names of the main characters, Sarny, Nightjohn, Waller, and Mammy.  In both the book and the movie the first words were the same,”This is the story of Nightjohn, it is also about me, because I’m in it...” Something that is the same in the plot of the movie and the book is that in both of them Sarny is being taught how to read by Nightjohn. Another similarity was that Nightjohn had been bought.  A conflict that is the same in the novel and the movie is when Waller finds out that one of his slaves is visiting another slave he punishes them ,but in the book it is much more gruesome.

The people who have seen the movie before reading the book think that the book was more different than the movie and vice versa. In my case I read the book first and think the book was better. The reason that they think that is because the differences. And that is what this paragraph is about. A difference in one of the characters is in Sarny. In the book she said that she couldn’t remember much, and in the movie she said that she remembers everything since the day she was born, this is a character v.s. character conflict. A big thing that people do not like is when there is change in part of the plot, for example in the movie they added a part were Sarny got baptized, when they added that they added a part of conflict that wasn’t in the book, they had that after Sarny was baptized she stole a bible ,then that added a part that showed one of the slaves getting whipped and that added more conflict.

In conclusion, I personally liked the book better than the movie. I hoped that you read novel and watch the movie, I would recommend these to a more mature group, 12 to 13 years of age was okay. When you are done with reading and watching “Nightjohn”  there is a sequel of the book, “Sarny”, also written by Gary Paulsen. I hope you enjoyed this and I hope you read and enjoy the books and movie also.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Paulsen_-_Nightjohn.jpg

Are We a Product of our Culture?

Are we a product of our culture? What is culture? Where is culture? What is a product? Are you confused? That is why I am here, to answer these questions and to make it clear once and for all.

First, Culture. Culture is what shapes our lives and there is no escaping it because it is whatever you do is your culture, the food you eat, the style of house you live in the clothes you wear and most of the time it has to do with your heritage and/or ancestors. Culture is also shared attitudes, knowledge and behaviors of a group. Some more examples of culture are architecture, history, tradition, food, music, etc. Culture is everywhere there are thousands of different types of cultures. American cultures, Lithuanian cultures, Italian, etc.
Where is culture? Culture is everywhere in the cities, in the suburbs, in rural areas and everywhere else. Every culture has their differences from another, but most of them have at least one similarity with another culture, like religion and/or food. There is even culture in school, your local community, and even in your state or province. In Wisconsin, United States of America, a big part of their culture is Dairy.
Now, what is a product? A product of something is a result of something. When most people think of a product they think of something that is made in a factory, and a toy or something along those lines. When you’re talking about culture the factory is our family, our peers and out role models. The product is us, we are influenced by our family, peers and role models and we copy the, and it becomes our culture and our childrens and so on. I have been told that parents are the bone in which children sharpen their teeth.
As you have seen throughout this article we are most definitely a product of our culture. I hope that I have answered all of the questions and leave you with none left on this topic and I hope I have taught you something about culture. Thank You.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ZV-_3BDcG4Cultural_Diversity.jpgg/S8fdTyV4q9I/AAAAAAAAKFg/XpQY-6KR7k4/s1600/

Commander Sanders Tales- Part Two

Blog Entry #3: Alright, in a few days, we launch the attack on Captain Cat. I know this attack will work. With Captain Cat gone, I will be able to launch many more attacks on other great enemies. We had a big meeting about the attack, with me and Lt. Flufferson leading. We hope not to lose many great and brave sloth fighters. We have a new suit that will enable us to move very quickly. Our slowness is one of our biggest enemies that causes us to fail. This suit will make our fighters one of the best in the whole galaxy. The Ship had some updates and special parts added to enable us to travel faster.

Blog Entry #4: Alright final blog before the attack! It is being launched tomorrow. Today, we have spent all of our time planning and preparing for our attack. It will be easy, I think, because we will be attacking with the element of surprise. Captain Cat will be going down. If lucky, I think we should take down all the enemies, but not the ship. That way, with one more ship, we will be unstoppable! Alright, I need to go get some sleep for the big battle coming up tomorrow. Good night everyone.

Blog Entry #5: Guess what? We won!!! Even better though, we got Captain Cat’s ship! We snuck up on the ship, and took them all down by surprise! We even got some Cat warriors hostage. We will question them later tomorrow to ask about other enemies they know. With two ships, we can double team the enemies. Also, Captain Cat’s ship includes software and weapons we needed. I was the one to finish off Captain Cat! I snuck into his head quarters, we had an epic battle, and I ended up throwing him out the window of his own ship! He isn’t dead, but he’ll floating in space forever! For eternity! One sloth did fall out of the ship when we were nearing earth to land. He had a parachute though. In the picture to the right you will see the sloth himself with his life-saving parachute.

Student Modern Day Slavery Videos 3

These videos were made by students as part of our celebration of Human Rights Day, telling the stories of survivors of modern day slavery.

Rose's Story by Joey 

Cam Suze's Story by Austen

Rhampal's Story by Wyatt

Student Modern Day Slavery Videos 2

These videos were made by students as part of our celebration of Human Rights Day, telling the stories of survivors of modern day slavery.

Rhambo's Story by Cody 

Helia's Story by Collin

Student Modern Day Slavery Videos 1

These videos were made by students as part of our celebration of Human Rights Day, telling the stories of survivors of modern day slavery. 

Camp 14 by Sam

Maria's Story by Adrian