My position is the school should have video cameras in public areas.
It can promote student's security and property.
My personal experience
Use data to prove safety. Percentage of crime.
People would say about having no privacy, but they are only in public area. (In conclusion)

No privacy
Safety - nobody else would come
Security - on money
They are in public space
Useful
Protect public property

What is the percentage ratio of crime in place that has a camera compare with the place that don't?
Where can people usually find the cameras?
How much does it cost? How clear is it?
Why somebody don't want to use it?
What is the percentage of the using of surveillance camera?

Letter

Dear Granny,

How are you these days with my aunty and my lovely cousins? I miss you and my grandpa so much and love you so much. I miss the time when you are living with me.

Sorry for not going to see you over the Spring break because I’m too busy for the whole break. I truly wanted to meet you, and I understand how much you miss me also. I haven’t seen you for two month and I’m feeling guilty for making the person I love the most disappointed. Sincerely, if I could, I will give my heart to you to show how I wanted to go meet you. Actually, both of us are busy and I’m sure that you would understand my condition after my explanation. You are always the kindest elderly in my life who would never make me sad.

Before the break, I decided to arrive in the airport in Shanghai first because it’s a shorter journey with about 14 hours. It’s a disaster if I go from JFK Airport, one of the airports in New York, to Hong Kong, because it’s a 16 hours flight and it’s a terrible thing even if I stay one more minute on the airplane. I also wanted to meet you in Hong Kong as quickly as you wanted, but I truly can’t.

During the break, I have lots of works to do. For example, there’s a golf try out after break. However, I cannot trust my skill because of the little practice for half a year. Thus, I needed to spend a huge amount of time in the whole break on golf and having little time to go to another city to meet you. Otherwise, my aunt’s so busy to send you to Shanghai with me because of the meetings she had everyday. Everyone knows that you would never leave my young cousins alone. All those reasons made up the result that I cannot see you.

Meanwhile, I’m telling you my apology even though I know that all you wanted is to see me. But please don’t be so disappointed; I’m coming back in two months again. Summer break is a lot longer than Spring break so I have plenty of time to meet you. Also, I’ve already asked my aunt to send you and my little cousins to Shanghai during my cousins’ summer break. I promise I will finish other works perfectly and patiently wait for your coming. In the meantime, me, your granddaughter, promise that you will have a satisfied summer with me.

I wish you would feel happy to see my letter and I love to meet you in summer.

Yours,

Cherrie.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee – An Excellent Play

After school’s play in autumn called “Galileo Galilei”, I started to look forward the Winter Theatre program. The play is called The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which the music and lyrics is written by William Finn and Book’s written by Rachel Sheinkin. The story is about a spelling competition called spelling bee. Six spellers were the main character in the competition and each of them came to the competition with his or her stories. They all have different ways to spell words and they have totally different personalities. I like the play by the special way it portrayed characters, the musical form of the play and the interesting plot of the play.

Firstly, I love the shaping of those characters. They are all different. Chip is the champion of the previous Spelling Bee that his proud and always think about girls. Logainne grew up with her two fathers. She was the youngest speller and always wished to be accepted by America. Leaf was the character I like the most. He was naughty and silly in my mind when I first see him. However, he’s just a poor boy who has been ignored by his whole family and wished to justify him. Marcy was a clever and arrogant girl who seemed to know everything, but when she understood that it’s not guilty to do something wrong, she found what she truly wants to do in her life. Olive was a shy girl who always wished to see her father in the spelling bee. Lastly, the winner, William was a clever boy who had a magic foot. He thought nobody liked him, but he might get the respect and friendship from his opponent, Olive. They were all independent people and they are all important in the play.

About the form of the play, it’s more likely to be a musical than a normal play. I heard many beautiful songs in the whole play and have been moved deeply. For example, I can never forget the scene when Olive’s father and mother thing together to show their love of Olive. The sound was so beautiful that it’s continuing wondering in my mind and could never leave. The music throughout the show makes it more complete and give audiences a better impression to understand the show. I remembered Logainne’s dream of being a perfect American, I remembered the dream that William wanted somebody to like him, and I remembered Chip’s anger of being out. The scenes are real with the music.

The plot was another thing I like in the play. It’s not so breathtaking, but still logical and out of my imaginary. For example, when one of Logainne’s father poured his drink on the floor to try to ruin William’s magic foot, I thought he was going to loose forsooth. However, he lastly spelled the world and I felt his surprise while he said, “I can make it without a foot!” Dramatically, Logainne was the loser of that round. I paid attention to the entire play and all the scenes was in my mind.

Lastly, I wish more people would see the excellent play that brought me happiness and pleasant. The show was beautiful, which made me already started looking forward the play coming this spring season.

spelling tree

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a long one-act musical comedy conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley Middle School. Six quirky adolescents compete in the Bee, run by three equally quirky grown-ups.

The 2005 Broadway production, directed by James Lapine and produced by David Stone, James L. Nederlander, Barbara Whitman, Patrick Catullo, Barrington Stage Company and Second Stage Theater, earned good reviews and box-office success and was nominated for six Tony Awards, winning two, including Best Book. The show has spawned various other productions in the U.S., including a national tour with performances in Canada, and Australian productions.

An unusual aspect of the show is that four real audience members are invited on stage to compete in the spelling bee alongside the six young characters. During the 2005 Tony Awards, former Presidential candidate Al Sharpton competed. Another amusing aspect of the show is that the official pronouncer, usually an improv comedian, provides ridiculous usage-in-a-sentence examples when asked to use words in a sentence. For instance, for the word "palaestra", he says, "Euripides said, 'What happens at the palaestra stays at the palaestra.'"[1] At some shows, adult-only audiences (over age 16) are invited for "Parent-Teacher Conferences," also known as "adult night at the Bee." These performances are peppered with sexual references and profanity inspired by R-rated ad-libs made during rehearsals.

The Broadway cast album was released on May 31, 2005 and is available from Ghostlight Records, an imprint of Sh-K-Boom Records. The original Broadway cast recording was nominated for a Grammy Award.

Lyrics

"The Hanging Tree"
(with James Newton Howard)

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
They strung up a man
They say who murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where dead man called out
For his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run,
So we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
[Movie line:] Wear a necklace of rope,
[Soundtrack line:] Wear a necklace of hope,
Side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where I told you to run,
So we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
They strung up a man
They say who murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree?
Where dead man called out
For his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met at midnight
In the hanging tree.

language replacement activity

Gregory, the Cat

I have an amusing gray Persian cat called Gregory. He has pride and grace. He usually pale slowly and lowers each paw as a capable dancer. However, he doesn’t pride of his appearance, he gets fat fast by staying inside and watching television, which is his favorite activity. TV commercials called Meow Mix and 9 lives seemed to be the best in his mind. His picky and selective that he only wants the most expansive cat food. As the same critical choosing of the food, he chooses his visitors carefully. He does have some human friends. But when he meets someone that he doesn’t like, he may snuggle up against his ankle, begging to be petted, or he seems to be wicked and bite you. Gregory didn’t establish his territory by overawe others as many cat experts think, but to humiliate me because the jealous of my friends. When my guests left my home, I look at the adorable old fleabag snoozing and smiling to himself in front of the TV; I couldn’t keep blaming him for the obnoxious, but funny behavior of him.

Timed writing class

As a high school student, students all know that there are field trips that related to the courses during class time. I’ve never been to a field trip before, but I look forward it a lot. However, Cheshire Academy has considered if the school needs to cancel all field trips to eliminate the tuition fees. By asking my friends that have been to those field trips, I knew that it’s a good chance for people to experience what they have learned and to have a much clear sense of what they are learning about. In my perspective, school shouldn’t cancel the field trips by giving students some real examples to study, giving them a better experience, and cancelling field trip might cause a big dissatisfied among the students.

First of all, it’s hard for students to understand all of their courses information and people need some real examples. When there are many field trips at the school. Thus, students who have nutrient class might go to the supermarket to see the food with their nutrient combinations. The people in performance class might go to some plays to see the true performance. Meanwhile, the students in history class might go to some museums to see what the history truly is. The variety field trips give people some great experience of understanding their works. Thus, canceling the field trips would give students a lot of difficulties to study their projects perfectly.

On the other hand, some of the field trips are great experience in students’ lives. For instance, students could join the model union. That’s a field trip that people go to other places to act as people in a country and argued with other countries. They stayed together to fix the problems among countries and to have speeches between each country. This experience can help the students a lot when they get to college; it might give student confident to express their ideas and to listen the other’s ideas. At least it would be a great banquet for the students to enjoy their lives. As a result, field trip would be the experience to help students grow and learn.

After that, if the school still decide to cancel the field trip, the students will be in a huge dissatisfied with the school. Last year, my English class was working on a book called, “Wicked”. My teacher promise us that she would bring us to a field trip to see the play related to the book. Then, the whole class was in a great happiness. However, until the end of the semester, we still hadn’t gone yet. It might cause by the snow days or the short spring season. However, the reasons weren’t important for the students, who looked forward the play so much. We were kind of angry and unsatisfied. Also, the result was I cannot focus well in the later class and did a worse job in the exams. So, even though it’s not a big deal for the school, cancelling the field trips might cause a serious result to the students who want to have field trips.

To conclude, having field trips are good for both people’s study and social experience but cancelling them could cause many bad results. So why would the school like to cancel them? The command of eliminating tuition fee is a problem, but if the parents know the advantages of having the field trips, they will pay the fees with willingness. Admittedly, the school should remain having the field trips and helping students doing better works in their lives.