Final Project

WHOOO!!! Final Project!!!

This is a tale of my family history and the wonderful amazing things associated with my family!

To start off, I interviewed my mom to get some background information. Click Here to see her responses!

Then, I interviewed my father to learn more about his life and growing up! Click Here to see his responses!

Then I sent an email to my sister in order to learn more about my family and our history, she did not respond :( but you can see the email I sent to her, Here.

Then I made a family tree using FamilyEcho.com, you can see it here!

Then I made an info graphic with things about my family!



And finally a Prezi with pictures and facts about my family...

Monday April 28th 2015

Read THIS blog post by a teacher. I mean actually read it. Take it in. Think about it. And then, write about it. What do you think about it? What is the teacher trying to say? In your own words explain what "the main event" is.

I think that this is a very insightful blog post by a teacher. It shows that teachers are actually concerned wit the welfare of their students and not solely concerned with themselves like many students believe. The teacher is trying to tell us not to give up and to preserve everyday and work hard in everything you do. To me, the main event is learning how things work for YOU and making decisions that will help you in your life and that will lead to your growth.

Friday April 17th, 2015

GIANT blog post of the day:


Answer the following questions thoroughly on your blog.

What was your stop motion animation about? Why did you choose your video to be about this? Was it because it was easy, because it would be fun, or it would be challenging? Explain your reasoning behind your project (and be honest).
If you could rate your stop motion on a 1-10 scale. 1 being low effort and no very good and 10 being out of this world/mindblowing, how would you rate your project? Explain why.
In hindsight, what would you do differently the second time around? Better lighting? Time management? Explain yourself.
Explain what makes your stop motion animation unique. How do you believe you thought "outside of the box" on this project?
What grade do you feel you deserve on this project? Explain your reasoning.

My stop motion animation was about a happy family of birds that went swimming for  the first time. They are shown going across the screen and going into the water. I chose to do this because it was fun and easy and I like folding cranes. I enjoyed making this presentation because it was a lot of fun and it was nice to make. It was also one of the easier project ideas that I had so I decided to do that.

I would give my project a rating of 8, I think that it was a simple project that was very well done and that had a good story. I think that this could have been better but I was tight on time.

If I were to do it again I would have more characters in the story and maybe have more photos so that my project could be longer.

I had the only bird stop motion animation in the entire class - unlike some other fools who all had skittles moving around so there's that. Also because not everyone knew how to make a paper crane so I know that my idea was original.

I think I deserve a mid-A on this project: it had all of the necessary items for the project but probably could have been done better.

April 14th, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
3 day weekend... how was it? Give me a good story or something funny that happened this weekend. Go.

PROOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This weekend I had Prom! My date, Rachel Trout went to the dance together. We went to Brio Tuscan Grille at the Plaza. We ate dinner and then went to the dance. At the dance we danced a lot and had a lot of fun. We then to after-prom here at the high school; I gave away all of my tickets to my friends to win prizes. We went to our after party and stayed up until 5:30 AM partying the night away. Here are some pictures of us from our night.

Tuesday April 7th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me ALL about what your idea is for your stop-motion animation. I need detail. Who is going to help you take photos? What props do you need? Where do you plan on shooting? EXPLAIN everything.

My idea for my stop motion animation video is to have a family of origami cranes fold themselves and then come to life and take flight across the screen. I will fold a series of 5-7 paper cranes and will take images between each step of the folding process. I will also show the birds "swimming around" in a pool of blue paper. My story will take place in a backdrop of a shoe box that I will make using a shoe box with blue paper in the background to look like the air that the birds will fly through. I will use natural light to film this because it will provide a better light that florescent lighting. I plan to shoot this at my house because I have all of the supplies that I need at home.

Monday April 6th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me all about your weekend and please share photos!

This weekend flew by! On Saturday morning I took a practice AP English Exam! It was a 4 hour long test that was very mentally taxing. Later in the day I started blowing up balloons so that I could ask Rachel Trout to Prom. I filled her room with 200+ balloons that Hannah Valentine and I filled up. I also made a poster to accompany the balloons. On Saturday night I went to Church for the first time in my entire life at Church of the Resurrection. On Sunday I "celebrated" Easter by doing homework and going into work.

A Thirst Quencher

Thursday, April 2nd 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What do you love most about this time of year? Explain why you love it.

What I love most about this season is change. I love the change of the weather, we are no longer bound by the bitter cold, but are liberated by the warmth of the sun. The change of the flowers and season is nice because of all the flowers that bloom. It is also party season! We had Spring Break, and next weekend we have Prom, and coming up we have graduation parties and graduation for the seniors. It will be a lot of fun!

Edited Pictures

Monday, March 30th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Did you complete the photo scavenger hunt? What kind of fun pictures were you able to capture? Did you do all your photos at school or did you do some at home over the weekend? Share one of your favorites.

Yes I just completed this very fun scavenger hunt! I captured some fun pictures with my best friend Rachel Trout along with Hannah Judy. I completed all of the photos at BVHS. This is one of my favorite pictures!

Friday, March 27th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What do you know about photography and/or photo editing? Do you take photos? How do you take photos? Do you edit photos before posting them on social media? How do you edit them? Explain any background or knowledge you have about photography and photo editing. Do you like it? Do you have any interest?

Photos are a captured image from real life or other things. When you edit images you change them is some way, either the size or the color or any other details of the image. I take quite a few photos, not as many as I used too because my camera no longer works. I take photos using the camera on my phone. Sometimes I decide to edit my pictures but usually I do not! I use the filters that are avaliable on Instigram and Twitter.

Monday, March 23rd 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Welcome back! Go ahead. Tell me all about your Spring Break. Include photos!

Spring Break 2k15 was a rather uneventful event. I had to work every single day from the Wednesday we got off school until the following Wednesday! I saw a lot of dogs, but was also very tired of work. I saw a cat get it's leg amputated because it refused to wear a cast or splint. I clocked more than 35 hours at work in 7 days. The rest of break was spent with my sister and family eating out and enjoying the nice weather. I didn't take any pictures during the break because I was busy with my family and working.!

Global Issues Prezi

Wednesday, March 11th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What are you doing for Spring Break?

This spring break will not be one for the books. :( I have to work every day from this Wednesday to next Wednesday with only one break, at that is on Saturday- to take the SAT. After work I will spend time hanging out with my friends, going to the park, and hanging out outside. My sister is coming home from college on Monday and we will spend time together because I never have time to see her! My parents are both working so I won't see much of them, but I will still have fun.

Monday, March 9th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about your weekend!

RELAY!!!!!! This weekend was centered around the annual Blue Valley Youth Relay for Life! I arrived at JCCC at 4:30 in the afternoon to help set up for the event. We had a record number of students attend this year's Relay! Over 1600 students, parents, and teachers were there to help fight cancer. I was the Junior Chair of the event so I had the responsibility of dealing with all the fun problems that arose during the night! We raised over $213,000 for the fight against cancer. I got home at about 8:30 in the morning and slept all day! I then went to the girls basketball game on Saturday night, and spent all of Sunday relaxing and doing homework!

Friday, March 6th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
If you were the Principal for a week at BVHS, what would that look like? What changes would you make? Why?

If I were principal of Blue Valley for one week I would make a lot of changes, first off to the dress code. It is not the responsibility of girls to keep boys attention on their own work, if boys can wear tank tops, then girls can wear shirts that are backless. If boys are allowed to wear saggy pants with their underwear showing, it is okay for girls to wear Nike shorts. My second change as principal would be to redesign a schedule that allowed for more than 6 minute passing periods, students are expected to be fully invested in one class and then another and change on the turn of a dime. Allowing more time for students to relax and unwind between classes for make them more prepared and more focused in their next classes.

Thursday March 5th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
List out 10 pieces of advice you would give someone on how to create an amazing presentation.

1. Use pictures not words!
2. Limit each slide of presentation to 7 words.
3. Practice, practice, practice. Know what you are going to say before the presentation.
4. Keep your audience engaged.
5. Check your work for any grammatical misteaks.
6. Use graphics to represent ideas.
7. Make the presentation easy to follow.
8. Make the information relevant to your topic.
9. Know what ideas you need to convey.
10. Be confident!

Monday March 2nd 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about your weekend.

This was quite a fun weekend! I went to the girls, boys, and staff basketball games on Friday, these were very fun games. On Saturday I had a hair cut at 10:30 in the morning, I then went home and relaxed. I went to a movie on Saturday afternoon, and then went to a Ping Pong tournament with my friends on Saturday night. On Sunday I worked with my friend Anna, and then I did all of my homework and watched some Netflix.

InfoGraphic

Tuesday February 24th, 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Use the internet to find an infographic about infographics. Place it in to your blog post. Read it and then give me the top 5 things you learned from it that will help you make a better infographic.

1. Have relevant, timely, and accurate data
2. Choose a color scheme and stick with it
3. Make it in an interesting topic
4. Keep the design interesting to keep the reader entertained
5. Develop a theme to stay consistent

Monday February 23rd 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about your weekend. Give me a story, something funny that happened, an experiencing you had, the way you felt, etc. Include photos!

This weekend was very.... interesting. First off I had a three day weekend because I was participating in the Kansas 6A State Swim meet in Topeka Kansas. Our team left for the meet at 6:30 on Friday morning, we took two school vans to the meet. After we swam on Friday, where I did horribly, we found out that our coach decided to book hotel rooms for us; however, we were not told about it before-hand so we had to go back to the school so that we could gather our own things. We then returned to Topeka to stay at the Day's Inn Topeka hotel. After four and a half hours in the school vans we arrived in the questionably sanitary hotel room that smelled like smoke. We all swim pretty poorly on Saturday but we still got 8th place at the meet. On Saturday night we held a gathering of some swim team people! We had a lot of fun! Sunday was spent working on homework and going into my job at Lionsgate Pet Hospital.

My friend Tillston in the school van!

Me and my pals at our swim team gathering!

Friday February 20th 2015

Blog Post of the Day!


A perfect curriculum is one that lets students learn at their own pace. It allows each and every student to have an education tailored to their own needs and interests. If a person is very interested in science; then they should pursue science courses, and not be stuck in 4 years of English that they don't need. Obviously some form of general education is required so that everyone knows how to read and write, but there should be more specialized classes available to students that wish to push themselves. These classes would be called LifeClass, they would be for students that are interested in a specific type of education and it would be very tailored. It would be much different that classes today where students are only focused on getting credits and credits and not learning things that actually matter to them.

Thursday February 19th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:

Copy and past these over to your blog and tell me a little about yourself. If you have a picture or two that might represent one of your answers make sure to include it.

My favorite food: IHOP Pancakes

Foods I'd like to avoid: Onions
My favorite things to learn: Mathematics
My favorite color: Orange
My best friends are: Jack Weber, Grant Daugherty, @relatableposts
My favorite games to play: Swimming
My favorite books: Harry Potter Series
My favorite movies or TV shows: Harry Potter Series
My favorite holiday: 4th of July
Things I do well: Listen to others
Things I need to practice more: Working Hard
My favorite place to go: My Bed <3
My favorite family activities: Family Dinners
My favorite thing to do outside: Bonfires
My favorite chore: Folding Laundry
My least favorite chore: Cleaning Cats Litterbox
What I want to be when I grow up: A Veterinarian
A place I want to visit: Italy
My favorite part of the year: Spring
My favorite part of each day: Winter

Tuesday February 17th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:


Tell me what you believe this cartoon is trying to say. Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Try and look at this from two different perspectives. What is your perspective? What would be an adult/teacher's perspective?
























I believe that this cartoon is trying to inform the viewers that other countries, specifically India and China, are more focused on subjects like math and science than the United States. I don't exactly disagree or agree with this cartoon; it portrays the youth of China and India are not having full youth experiences, while students in the United States are more concerned with material goods and having a good time. From the perspective of a person who analyses data from test scores would say that this is accurate because other nations have higher academic standards than we do. My perspective is that of a teenager in the United States; however, I focus a lot of my time of my education. A teacher or educatior in the United States would say that we work just as hard to get educations, but an educator in China or India would say that we slack off all of the time.

Tuesday February 10th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:

Think about the quote above. What does this mean to you? How could this apply to your life? How could this apply to your school work? I would love to give you less work in class if it meant you were going to focus harder on the work. Do you think you would get more out of it? Would that work for you? Why or why not?

This quote is very relevant because it is a philosophy that I embrace. It means that we could be doing more less, but because we are doing less we would need to be more focused when we are doing your work. This applies to my life because we are given an obscene amount of work to do in High School, but if we were trusted to spend our time wisely and be more focused, then we would do less. In school work, if teachers wanted to give us less work, and homework to work on, but with more focus, then we could do more, by technically doing less. I think that in particular in this class, because the work load is not very heavy, it would not be very good to give students less in return for more focus because the minimal amount of work would people would think of this class as a blow-off. I think that for me it might work, and might be benefitial, but for some people, it would not work for them.

Monday February 9th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me all about your weekend! I sure hope you have photos to share.

Wow what a fantastic weekend! I did so many amazing things! On Friday I had EKL prelims swim meet, I was sick all weak so I did not do as well as I had hoped for but still made it back to the next day! After the meet on Friday we, as a team, went to SmashBurger for some grub! On Saturday, I had to be at BVNW for my swim meet by 11:00. I swam well on the second day and got 9th place in the 500 free. Our team got 3rd place all together! We had a lot of good swims and we are looking forward to state on February 20th and 21st!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/SmashBurger_logo.jpg

Add cahttps://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1441400918/Swimming.jpgption

Friday January 6th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me about some interesting things you have learned about your global issue so far. What have you learned that you didn't know before?

I have learned so many interesting things during my research into my global issue. My topic, Oil prices, is a vastly changing field. I have learned that the more countries like Saudi Arabia produce oil, the lower the prices of oil. Also the price of oil is dependent on the fracking industry in the United States. The global industry of oil is interdependent on each other and relies deeply on the impact of other nations. The shale and fracking industry in the United States will take a hit with the lower gas prices, as it is an expensive extraction method.

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/~imw/jpg/fireclo.jpg

http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/oil-gas/images/oil%20pump%20sunset.jpg

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/files/2013/06/fracking-pipeline.jpg

Thursday January 5th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
You haven't had a chance to tell me about your Sweetheart weekend yet - tell me about it now! Include photos if you have them. Even if you just laid around on the couch and watched Netflix, tell me all about it.

Sweetheart! Ahhh what an amazing time! I had so much fun with all of my friends. First off my date, Lucy Hall, and I were very unprepared for this dance - we did not even match flowers for the corsage and boutonnieres.  We took pictures with our entire group, there were 28 of us total. Then we took a party bus to Carmens Cafe in Brookside, at dinner I ordered chicken Parmesan and a Coke. We however did not go to the actual Sweetheart dance :( but we did then go to our friend Anna's house for our after gathering. The night ended promptly at 12:00 when everyone left and went home for a good nights sleep!

Monday January 2nd 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
What is email? When do you use email in your own personal life? List reasons and ways that people use email. What do you know about "email etiquette"? EXPLAIN.

An email is an electric form of communication. It replaced traditional mail, and is sent over the internet. Email is used every day by millions of people, it's uses have no limit. I use email every day to communicate with other students, and also to send myself things that I know I will need in the future. I also need my email because I have lots of subscriptions on it and need to keep up with the things that are being sent my way. People use email to connect with their employees or bosses, to share information or projects, to get people to buy things, and many other things. What I know about email etiquette is that when you are emailing different people you need to use different language and formatting and it is important to come across as professional.

Thursday January 29th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:

Finish this sentence "10 years from now I will be...." (explain)

In 10 years from now I will be a veterinarian. I will have just graduated from Vet school the year before. I will have attended Tufts University for my undergraduate degree and also my graduate vet school. I will have spent my undergrad time swimming as a Jumbo (the Tufts mascot). I will work at a vet clinic somewhere and begin paying off my debt and saving up for my own vet clinic.

Tuesday January 27th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Yesterday I had you choose a global issue and you wrote about it on your blog. Today on your blog I want you to tell me about two different perspectives of your global issue. Are there people for an against your issue? Do people disagree on your issue? Is it a topic that can cause controversy? Look at the issue for two different perspectives. Tell me about those perspectives.

Oil Prices:

From the view of an American consumer, the low gas prices are amazing! We don't have to pay as much money for our gas and it is easier to fill up at the pump. It is also helpful for the entire economy because with the lowering in gas prices help the economy grow and be profitable. The consumer likes the lowering in gas prices even though they don't understand the economic war that is being waged on the United States.

From the view of a country in OPEC, the increase in production of oil is both damaging and helpful to them. For some nations, that don't have a large supply of capital, and who rely on high gas prices, are hurt by the low price of oil. But other nations, such as Saudi Arabia, are still managing with the low prices; these nations are benefiting because the fracking industry is being damaged by the low gas prices.

Oil Prices

Without doing any research, what background do you currently have on this issue?
What do you want to know about this issue?
Why did you choose this issue? Had it effected your life? Is it something you are passionate about? Explain.

The oil prices that have been decreasing in the United States are a direct result of an OPEC oil war that is being waged. Countries like Saudi Arabia have plenty of oil reserves that they can afford to keep the prices low by increasing production, this action is in direct response to the increased amount of fracking by U.S. companies. With the prices so low for oil, the fracking industry is becoming obsolete due to its high cost. Some nations in OPEC are worried that the increased production is also hurting their profits from exporting oil, but, the world's largest producer of oil, Saudi Arabia, is not concerned by the lower prices. This price was that is being waged on the United States by other oil rich nation is hurting our oil production industry, but helping consumers.

I want to know why countries like OPEC are continuing the drive the price of oil into the ground and if this economic war will become something that is more than that. I also want to know if the fracking industry can survive with gas prices so low.

I chose this issue because it directly effects my life, with the lowering of gas prices in the United States, it is great for the consumers, but it is hurting the fracking industry. I also chose this because I am interested in the topic of oil and how it commands our economy. I am also interested in seeing how gasp prices will change in the future.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/files/2013/06/fracking-pipeline.jpg

http://www.markettiminguniversity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/pump.jpg

Monday January 26th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:
Last week I asked your to "think differently" and push yourself to be uncommon with your PSA project using Google Slides. Why do you think I asked you to do that? What is the point? Why not just use bullets and headers? Explain

I think that when you asked us to "think differently" I think that you asked us to do that because everyone does the same thing for all of their PSA's and you wanted us to be original and creative. In the creative process, you have to think and use your brain to come up with new and different ideas, and that is what you wanted us to achieve. The point of pushing yourself is to be better and to get better, you always grow when you push past your comfort zone and improve. I think that expanding ideas and not just listing facts is the best way to project ideas.

PSA

Friday January 23rd 2015 Kids These Days!

Blog Post of the Day:


Kids these days! They are getting into all sorts of trouble. They spend all of their time using their rainbow looms to make bracelets and necklaces, my wife Susan and I have 13 rainbow bracelets. They spend all their time on their gee-dang eye-pods and y-boxes, I can't hardly keep up. When I was a kid we used to play OUTSIDE, but these skinny whippers just sit on their rumps all day doing thumb exercises. These kids are out of control and need to get back to working in the mines like I was when I was their age.

Thursday January 22 2015 PSA

Blog Post of the Day:
What is a public service announcement (PSA)? What do PSA's do? What makes a good PSA? How can you get someone to take action after watching a PSA? What is you PSA idea? Explain in detail.

A public service announcement is a presentation of information that is designed to persuade someone's opinion toward or against something. Topics often include smoking, drinking, and other things that are detrimental. PSA's use photographs, data, and statistics to portray their ideas and influence people. A good PSA makes someone feel toward a certain topic and influences them. You can get someone to take action by having a call to action, or providing ideas for them to do that will help them. My PSA idea is to show all the detrimental things that are caused by teen drinking and all use appeals to emotion, like fear, to influence people not to consume alcohol under the age of 21.

Tuesday January 20th 2015 My Weekend

Blog Post of the Day:
Tell me all about your 3 day weekend. Share photos!

Wowza this was a quick three day weekend! I had a swim meet early Saturday morning at BVN, it was against all of the Blue Valley Schools and we got 3rd place. After the meet we went to get some bomb.com food at Fuzzy's Taco Shop. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and resting. On Sunday I spent a lot of the day doing homework and helping my dad take the bathtub out of my parent's master bathroom. I also went and hung out with some friends on Sunday night. On Monday I had swim practice at 8:00 AM and then went to IHOP for some unlimited pancakes. I had work at 1 PM and was there until 6:00 PM where I went home and finished up my homework.

This is me at my swim meet

These were some bomb.com pancakes from IHOP

Friday January 16th 2015

Blog Post of the Day:

Tell me a little bit about yourself and your life here at BVHS. What activities or clubs are you involved in? What year are you in school? What is your favorite class and/or teacher so far this year? What are you looking forward to this school year? Include some original photos from your phone if you can.

Life for yours truly is very jammed packed with activities and classes. I am involved in the BVHS swim team, this is my third year on the team and hopefully I will be going to state again this year. I am also involved in Relay for Life at our school. I am the Junior chair along with my fellow homie Rachel Trout. I am in many honors societies including Mu Alpha Theta, and Science Honors society. I am a junior here at the fine establishment of BVHS. My favorite class is AP Physics, taught by Mr. Holloway. He is my favorite teacher and makes the content we are learning fun! This year I am looking forward to working hard to get good grades to try to get into the college of my dreams.

Me with Hillary Hiezman in London, England

My mom and I at 2014 Homecoming Dance