Haiti

The earthquake hit Haiti around 5:00 on January 12th. It was recorded as the strongest since 1770. The death toll is estimated to be near 200,000. Thousands of bodies have been placed in mass graves. Many are without food, water, or shelter. Riots and mobs have been arising because of panic, fear, and frustration. It's now up to us as to what we can do to help the suffering.

Many are still dying. There is not enough medicine for most of the injured. Antibiotics are needed to treat the amputations and life saving surgeries. But unfortunately, enough has not arrived in Port Au Prince yet. Pain killers are needed to help those severely injured or dying.

Those who are less injured, are still suffering tremendously. There is a huge lack of food and drinkable water. The food is getting there, but it's sometimes getting into the wrong hands. A big problem has been spotted. Men overpower the women and children for food. To help solve this problem, U.S. and Haitian soldiers have begun mostly giving to the women.

The idea is that the women will disperse the food more evenly. In Haiti, the women are usally in charge of the household food supply. Once the women get the bags of food, soldiers help protect them and ensure that they keep the food and it doesn't get stolen. This has helped fairly well so far.

A massive food distribution began today. Each family will recieve a 25 kilogram ration of rice at each food distribution site. But that's not enough. People also need water and shelter. Pur water has water purifying packets available. For 3 cents a pack, a liter of contaminated water can be purified. The packet helps separate the good water from the bad stuff.

Shelterbox is an organization that gives people shelter - in a box. A 10 person size tent is the most important thing supplied. Crayons and drawing books are also provided for the children.
Other important supplies include: hammers, stoves, bowls, water and food containers, thermal blankets, water purification packs, and mosquito nets.

It's up to all of us to help. Most of the world seems to be uniting for this greater cause. We can donate as much as possible for the relief of the Haitians through our church, school, and organizations.

http://www.shelterbox.org/

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/haiti.quake/

Feature Story on Family

I'm sitting against the wall in my sister's kitchen, watching everybody. It's my niece's 11th birthday party. She's opening her gifts and thanking everyone. The room is filled with her immediate family. She's too old to have big birthday parties anymore. At least, that's what she thinks. Kids.. Everyone's talking, catching up on things. Jamie is having another brother or sister in 9 months. Hearing this makes me think about family and how important it is. So that's what I'll do my feature story on.

No matter what you've done or where you've been, you have your family. You mess things up, and they help put it back together. You fall apart, and they pick up the pieces. Family is always there for you. You may think your best friend is your family or your boyfriend or girlfriend who means so much is your world, but for me , it's always been my family. Because even if things with my best friend or boyfriend fell apart, my family remained.

It's a great gift God gives us. You know, it's like they say, you're stuck with your family so you better love them. It seems like a lot of times we treat our family the worst out of everyone we know. We know they'll be there, because they have to. So our harsh words or behavior is acceptable. But really, it's not. We gotta treat our family for what they really are - a gift. We have to appreciate them and be there for them like they are for us. We have to watch what we say, because hurtful words can't be taken back, just forgiven.

For me, my mom has always been the most important person in my life. And my sister, Leanne, has always been that person that really got to me. When she would tell me she understood my situation and that it would get better, I believed her the most. Anyone else could have said it, but coming from her, it would actually get through to me. And my mom hurts when I hurt. She's happy when I'm happy. That's true love for a person. That's family.

I think about how important my family is to me. And I wish that everyone stopped for a second sometimes, just to think of what their family means to them. I still say hurtful words or forget to thank the people that do the most for me. It seems like we teenagers do this the most. But lately, I've just realized that it's not okay to do that. It's never okay to hurt the people who love you unconditionally. Because the most important thing in our life, is our family.

Me, Myself, and the funny little voice in my head

Powerpoints.

Caleb's was the best! I've been wanting to beat Minesweeper for a very long time! It was quick and to the point. I now know the secret to being a winner!

Chase's was cool because of his use with the "uke". I had no idea how to play it. Chase played us part of a really cool song and he did pretty good. I was so mesmerized by the uke that I didn't take notes. Woops. At the end, we listened to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by that famous Hawaiian guy. It was great.

Sarah's was the funniest! She was so serious about it and i applaude her for keeping a straight face...well, most of the time. The pictures of her and Nathan were great. Who knew the potential of Nathan's hair!?

5 High School Nespapers

1. The Feather
Fresno Christian High School
http://www.thefeather.com/
Fresno, California

2. Knight Errant
Benilde-St. Margaret's School
http://bsmknighterrant.org/
Saint Louis Park, Minnesota

3. Wayland Student Press
Wayland Union High School
http://waylandstudentpress.com/
Wayland, Missouri

4. The Harbinger
Shawnee Mission East High School
http://smeharbinger.net/
Shawnee Mission, Kansas

5. The Online Gargoyle
University Laboratory High School
http://www.uni.illinois.edu//og/
Urbana, Illinios

Besto Threeo

#1 Puns
The puns blog was actually fun. Eveyone had a great time telling each other corny or clever ones. I love witty things like that so I really enjoyed it. I'll give you an example. 'I relish the fact that you've mustard the strength to ketchup to me.' It was the best!
#2 Crazy Sandwiches
This blog assignment was very easy! That's a huge reason I loved it. It was just interesting how people actually spend there time crafting these sandwiches. Some looked disgusting but funny. Some were a thing of beauty. Others were just weird! I think just about everybody liked this one because it was just fun!
#3 eHow
How To Write a Paragraph about Liking Blogs. The instructions are simple - It's impossible to like blogging. Haha, I'm only kidding Ms. Melancon. This blog was so crazy. There are How To's for almost everything! So it gets third place!
#Last - 50 NP ideas
It was too long. After I while I was throwing out such crazy ideas! I have so many ideas about Caleb and random people. It got to the point where it was pointless. I mean, I'm not going to blog about any of them except maybe three. You're just silly Ms. Melancon, and you like reading our insane ideas. It has no benefit for the paper, admit it! :P