Character Change

                  I have been reading the book Football Hero by Tim Green. Football Hero is the sequel to Football Genius, the first book of the series. Football Hero is a great book. It is about an orphan named Ty who has a passion for football. His brother, "Tiger" is an all time football star who gets paid for playing football. Ty looks up to his brother and hopes to become a football legend.

                 But, his aunt and uncle, (his guardians) don't want him too. They don't have faith in Ty. They don't believe he has what it takes to become a legend of the NFL. Over time, there have been many character changes . Ty has changed from a wimpy boy to a man. For example, his uncle didn't want Ty to play football, so when it was Ty's 14 birthday, his uncle gave Ty his work papers. His uncle wanted him to work for money because they were poor already, but Ty believed he could make it in the NFL. I also see changes in his football work. He became faster and smarter, this also a change from a boy with silly plays, to a young man with strategic planned out plays.

                Overall, this book is a great book. I can't wait to finish Football Hero to move onto the next book. Although I haven't finished the book, I hope Ty makes it to the NFL. I wish to see Ty as a more mature young man in a few chapters or in future books!

Adam Almontaser                                                                     707

11/5/13                           Memoir Piece                                     ELA

I slowly walked down the black staircase, holding onto the chipped red hand railing. “Alright guys enter quietly.”  said my fifth grade teacher Mr. T. We walked into the auditorium, there were hundreds of, white lined up chairs. As we were directed to our seats, our guidance counselor Ms. Manna grasped the shiny black microphone. “Rrrrriiiiinngggg” Everybody covered their ears to the loud screeching of the microphone. Ms. Manna’s raspy voice came onto the microphone. “Hello everybody! Welcome to this years award  ceremony! Everyone clapped and cheered and whistled. I could see in the corner of my eye, my mom taking pictures of me. 



After 30 minutes, I almost fell asleep listening to everyone bragging about their awards. I felt a bead of sweat trickle down my forehead from the lights and because I was nervous too. I wasn’t getting any.  After about 15 minutes, my name was finally called. “Holy Crap that was a long time” I thought to myself. It was an award for science. The paper was warm and smooth. Then I got a second one, a gold medal came with it too. It was cold and bumpy. The next one was for perfect attendance, it came with a silver medal, with a calendar on it. When Ms. Manna said “This award is a special one” I knew I wanted it right away.



“This award is from president Obama.” Everyone clapped and cheered and whistled again. My face turned from apricot to printer paper white. “Yousef, Natasha, Jesse, Luis, and…. Adam!” “Please come up!!” I jumped for joy as I ran through the aisles! My parents cameras lit up like guns. That’s when I got my first life lesson, work hard in school. This teaches me to push harder in school, because one day I would want to get another letter!

"Watching You" UpFront Magazine

"Watching You"

                     I recently read the article "Watching You " by Patricia Smith. I thought I could reflect on some of her ideas and information she mentioned in her article. The article "Watching You" is about how the government is able to listen in on phone calls, e-mails, and text messages. There are many privacy concerns, but, they can save many lives. If you ask me for my opinion, it would be YES.

                    I would say yes because America has faced many tragedies. For example, 9/11 and Boston Bombing that took place in 2012. These events could've been 100% stopped. If the government looked in on the phone calls to blocked numbers and e-mail to wanted people, we would all be safe. I'm pretty sure 9/11 and the Boston Bombings took a lot of planning to make it happen. An Al Qaeda member was stopped on a train in 2006 and was carrying a bomb, these tactics stopped it.

                  In conclusion, I feel that the government should be able to look through phone calls and e-mails and texts. What if you were on that train?, What if your loved ones were on that train? So, what do you think?