Intelligentsia: Mr. Wass's Social Studies Blog

Justice and Equality for All

Mr. Wass — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 15:34:08 +0000

Today I went and talked to one of the Negro girls on the plantation. Her name is Betsey, and she is twelve. “I work in the kitchen. I have no time to be a child like the Baxter children. I look at them and wonder what it would be like to sleep in and wear the frilly fun dresses they wear. But because I blend in with the night, I won’t ever be like the Baxter ladies.” She told me while she scrubbed down the kitchen counters. Her hair may be the color of bark and her skin the color of the teas she prepared each day, but she was no different than I. Why is this world so cruel to force young girls like her to work for their entire lives?
-Jacquelyn Bruun, Excerpt from Historical Fiction Journal

Stereotype

Mr. Wass — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:29:22 +0000

Why do we stereotype? Why do we listen to stereotypes? Why do we follow them? Each of us is an individual, so why are we put into groups that the rest of the world must follow? Judging someone by the things they do, the way they act, or people they hang out with makes the world so small. I used to be a cheerleader, so everyone expects me to cake on a bunch of makeup, get bad grades, and date a football player. That’s not me, though. I listen to Green Day, make decent grades, and I don’t worry about the drama. People who are judgmental usually see very black and white. It is either this way or the other. Isn’t it better to live in the gray sometimes? The world has come to a point where it is almost impossible not to judge, but maybe you could be that change. The one who says, “I am not a stereotyper nor will I ever be” or “I will not judge you, you cannot judge me.”

39 Days

Sydney Lyons — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:42:48 +0000

Many of you may not have stopped to think about it, but there are only 39 days left till 2010. Wow. A new year marks a new beginning, and also the end of the previous years. This is the time to use the last bit of 2009 to the fullest. Are there things that you want to do before the new year? If so the time is now.

“Time is free, but its priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can keep it, but you can’t spend it.

Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”

-Harvey MacKay

How will you spend your time until the new year? What goals to do you want to achieve before 2010?

Under the Stars

Mr. Wass — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 20:05:15 +0000

Beauty is the stars above
Imaginary shapes
Connect the dots
Endless possibilities, opportunity galore
It’s not in the infinite number
Nor the constellations
Not even the twinkle describes the beauty
The stars are not celebrities
But a host indeed
For midnight gazing
Gazing into what?
Gaze into the eyes of the future
Gaze into the hearts of young lovers
Gaze into the dreams of the young children
Gaze into the wisdom of the elderly
See the beauty
Past the face
Beyond the words
Explore!
For the beauty lies in our soul
Let go! Happiness is in control
Free spirits dance
Among setting suns and family photographs
Hands join together
Celebrate life!
Life is the beauty
Behold!
Look here!
The stars have arrived
Oh, so beautifully
It’s time to gaze
No fear, no fear
Beauty will come
The stars have come
It’s already here.

Happy 2nd Birthday Intelligentsia: Mr. Wass’s Social Studies Blog

Mr. Wass — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:57:39 +0000

That is right it has been two years since the beginning of Intelligentsia! In just that short time, we have enjoyed over 100 posts and 1000 comments. My hat goes off to current and former editors and all of those who have contributed over the past two years. Oh the possibilities for the next two years. As we take a look back at the first two years, what are the five best posts? comments? ideas?

Clique

Mr. Wass — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:37:19 +0000

Clique. Every teenager has seen this word before, either in action or on paper. It has so much meaning to us, but I ask why? Is it intimidating? Well it can be. Not just the word, but the reality of it. It is scary walking into the lunchroom and having to think if you sit with a group it is going to make who you are! It is so immeasurable. A clique is not what we aim for at Rabun Gap, but just walking into the Dining Hall and seeing the same thing everyday kind-of gets me thinking. I am not trying to embarrass anyone, but come on guy’s we don’t always have to sit with the same people. I remember one day being in one of the class meetings, at the beginning of the year, and someone was complaining how we had to sit in advisory groups cause’ they never got to see their friends. Well honestly it wasn’t a half bad idea. We sat with people we didn’t know to well and we got an opportunity to talk to them and become friends. I make’s me miss it. So the basic message, in a not so basic article, is try to mix it up, step out of your comfort zone for fifty minutes, and sit with someone other than your certain group of friends. Who knows you might enjoy it.

Green White and Gold!!!!!!!!

dareckleszzkidd — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:06:01 +0000

Last year in my old school, Spirit Week was really different. Unlike this year in Rabun Gap, where we have pajama day and twin day and all those fun dress up days, Spirit Week back home was like your class had to wear a certain school color( White, Blue, or Gold) and we played games for like half the day. Each 8th grade had to compete against each other and who ever had the most points was the represenative for that class. It was the same fro the 7th and 6th grade classes. The represenatives of each class had to play the each other. We would play a basketball game to start of the week and then we woud play little other games to rack up points. It was fun, but, In Rabun Gap, Spirit Week is funnier. We get to dress up for the certain activities, and we also laugh at what everybody else is wearing. Tacky Day was the funniest day of Spirit Week so far. How Is Spirit Week For you so far

Fighting and Death are… soothing?

Mr. Wass — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:01:19 +0000

Fighting, it should be chaotic, loud, the opposite of peaceful. But on the hushed frontier, it seems to restore order. With the breath taking scenery, and the silence, it almost seems more serene. They are fighting, and fighting is never a soothing sound, but the silence changes the whole affect. It is as if everything balances out each other, fire and water, violence and peace, silence and disarray, they all make each other better.

Excerpt from The Last of the Mohicans essay, Sydney Harris

Balloon Boy

Sydney Lyons — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:13:03 +0000

Many of you probably heard about the tragic boy that got drifted away in a homemade helium balloon. You may have also heard that this was a hoax. The boy was not in fact floating through the skies of Colorado, but safely home in the attic. They also had their two other kids lie for them. The parents of this boy had crafted this story for attention. “The motive for the fabricated story was to make the Heene family more marketable for future media interest” (Dobuzinskis 1).

What does this say about America? Why do some people go to such lengths for publicity? This also poses the question of how accurate everyday news is. Does every hoax get caught, or do some go about unnoticed?

Tell what you think to all three questions posed.

And for more information about the balloon boy hoax visit:

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE59M5J720091023

What do you think about life?

dareckleszzkidd — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:19:16 +0000

Is life challenging? What are the major obstacles in your life?