Education is an important thing in the U.S, everyone goes to school, and everyone needs teachers. Elementary Education is the 15th most popular major according to MatchCollege.com. While it is always a challenge completing your degree, whatever it may be, it is also important to have a minor that can help you get certain positions. Here is my opinion on what is the most important and helpful minors for an Elementary Education major.

1. Spanish
It is important to have an understanding of the Spanish language because of the number of Hispanics immigrating to the U.S, who only speak Spanish. So as a teacher, if you have any students who only speak Spanish, they need to understand what you are teaching. Teaching them English will help you teach them, help them make friends, plus, it will help them learn from their other teachers. There are 41 million Spanish speakers in the U.S, and who knows how many have it as their only language. Those who are children need to learn English for their futures, and as teachers you are suppose to teach your students material that will brighten their futures.

2. Technology
Technology is becoming very popular in classrooms. Virtual classrooms and online courses are becoming very common. Technology also helps to widen your students horizons, by showing them several images and examples of what they are learning. 74% of U.S teachers say that technology helps motivate their students, so it is important for teachers to know how to use it.

3. Special Education
Students who need Special Education have the ability to be incredibly smart, if they are taught how to learn the right way. It is also helping the teacher to teach them with other students. 13% of public school students need Special Education, this is equivalent to 6.5 million students.

4. Chinese
The Chinese language is a major language in the world. It is the most common spoken language in the world. Behind Spanish, Chinese is the most common language that English learning students speak as their first language.

5. Fine Arts
Most people say that when you get a Fine Arts degree you can’t get a job, luckily, you don’t have to worry about that if you are majoring in Education. Most schools are taking Fine Arts programs out of their school system due to budget cuts. However, most students do better at academics if they have Fine Arts in their curriculum. If you want your students to learn things such as drawing, painting or even if want to teach your own craft, it would be best if you had an understanding and ability to be well-educated on what your teaching. Also, many schools have Fine Arts classes after school, so a Fine Arts degree might come in handy if the school system wants you to teach a class after school.

6. Math
Math is a very difficult subject to learn once you get into High School and College, so it is very important for your students to have good fundamentals of math. It helps you teach them if you understand the way they need to learn math for future grade levels . The U.S has a 82% failure rate on the Algebra Exam. To know Algebra, you must have a firm understanding of fundamentals. If you are teaching Algebra, then you must know how to complete it. If you are teaching fundamentals, then you must understand which fundamentals they need to know.

7. Literature
As a teacher, you are preparing students for many things, but here are the two major things you are preparing them for; their future education and life. Knowing what books to have them read and which books that will help them. This helps students with their creativity, and the hardships to expect from life. Reading also improves vocabulary, attitudes, broader thinking, test grades, and the ability to have good sentence structure.

These are the subjects I think are important to know and have an understanding of when you become a teacher. However, if you have a different opinion, let me know, I would love to hear it.

Snoopy was Charlie Brown’s pet beagle in the comic strip,”Peanuts”, by Charles M. Schulz. His first appearance was on October 4, 1950, two days after the first Peanuts comic strip. His character was inspired by one of Schulz’s childhood pets, Spike. Originally, he was not Charlie Brown’s pet, he was actually a pet of a character named Shermy. On September 1, 1958 he was specifically stated as Charlie Brown’s dog. On March 16, 1952, his first thought appeared in a thought bubble. On January 9, 1956, he first stood on his hind legs. Snoopy has an interesting development into the character we know today.
Snoopy is known for being a classic example of boy’s best friend. He is known for being loyal, friendly, and creative. He has different relationships with the different Peanuts’ characters. With Linus, he teases him a bit and steals his blanket. He kisses Lucy, because she doesn’t like it. He is also known as Woodstock’s, a small yellow bird, best friend. He also had a past owner named Lila, who loved him very much. He also has a love interest named Fifi. They have a series of adventures in several television shows. He has a dream to be world famous, we know this because of his alternate personas. His most famous alternate persona is as the aviator who shoots down the Red Baron, who was a famous German aviator. Snoopy is also known for his holiday specials and being the official mascot for space safety. His last appearance was in “The Peanuts Movie” where he played his ever so famous character, Snoopy. Snoopy was voted the eighth best cartoon character ever. Snoopy is an iconic cartoon character for many generations of children.

The Seattle Cossacks is a motorcycle drill team that originated around Seattle. The group was originally a number of racers and hikers who did it to entertain themselves. Their first organized meeting was January of 1938 and their first performance was in April of the same year. They separated shortly during World War Two, because most of the members were young men who left to defend their country. After the war was over, the team regrouped in the spring of 1946. They called themselves the Cossacks, because the Russian Cossacks were known for their masterful horseback riding.
The Seattle Cossacks are known for their magnificent skill of motorcycle stunts. They do this without ropes or wires or illusions, just raw talent. They are the last group of old school motorcycle stunt groups. They perform in everything from small town festivals to World Fairs. They perform twenty to thirty shows a year. They ride Harley-Davidsons that range from a 1930 VL to 1949 45 CI. The current members ages are from 27 years old to 74 years old. This is a tradition that has been passed down between brothers, fathers, and sons. There have been 141 members, some are performing, some are deceased, and others are unable to ride any longer. One of their members were featured in the TV show “American Pickers”, Season 17 Episode 5, where the Seattle Cossacks were mentioned. They are known for their professional and dangerous stunts, while still keeping themselves and their audiences safe. Their next performance is at the Sky Valley Motorcycle Show in Snohomish, Washington on May 21, 2017. Be sure to see if their next performance is near you.

On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, arrived in Dallas Texas, to be in a motorcade from Love Field to the Dallas Trade Mart, where there was suppose to be a luncheon at 12:00. When nearing the end of the 10-mile motorcade, theWarren Report states that Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK from the window of the Texas School Book Depository. However, because of the skepticism of Americans and the witnesses testimonies being different than the Warren Report, the JFK assassination case is one of the biggest murder mysteries in world history.
As JFK and his wife rode through Dallas, gun shots were fired. Bullets ended up in the back of JFK’s neck and in the back of his head. It was officially stated that Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. Though, there are several flaws with this statement. One is that Oswald would have had to have a nearly perfect shot from the top of the building to hit Kennedy. Another flaw is that because of where the bullets hit there is evidence that there was more than one shooter. We may never know, because Jack Ruby, a Dallas club owner, went into the police station, shot, and killed Lee Harvey Oswald.
Another question is did Oswald act alone? The Warren Report said he did. However, John F. Kennedy had a lot of enemies, such as the Klu Klux Klan, anti-civil rights individuals, powerful cubans, and the Mafia, a mob group. With these powerful leaders as enemies, it makes it highly unlikely for an american communist acting alone, to kill the President of the U.S. The Warren Commission was also in doubt, because the CIA had several reports classified, so they didn’t have all the information.
13 days before the assassination of JFK, a journalist and Klu Klux Klan member, Joseph Milteer, is recorded telling someone in Miami Florida, that JFK is going to be assassinated by a man named Jack Brown. Now, when reading most JFK assassination articles, Jack Brown is not mentioned. So what if Jack Brown was the second shooter. At the time JFK was shot, he was making movements towards ending segregation. His assassination could have been the KKK’s way of delaying the abolishment of segregation.
Lee Harvey Oswald died two days after the assassination of JFK, from a gunshot wound fired by Jack Ruby. Jack Ruby was arrested and died four years later from natural causes in prison, while waiting for a new trial. There are several theories of why Ruby would do this. Some say that he did it so people would come to his club and shake the hand of the man who killed the man, who killed the president. Jack Ruby had ties to the Mafia, so it is possible that the KKK was controlling the Mafia, and the Mafia was controlling Oswald. I believe Jack Ruby was sent to shut Oswald up by the mafia. Milteer was not concerned with Oswald sharing information because he called him a “patsy”. However, Milteer, being from the KKK organization, may have never spoken to Ruby, so Ruby may have been told by the Mafia to kill Oswald, to keep him from spilling information. The reason I think that Ruby knew something, is because of his statement, “Everything pertaining to what’s happening has never come to the surface. The world will never know the true facts, of what occurred, my motives. The people had, that had such an ulterior motive for putting me in the position I’m in, will never let the true facts come above broad to the world”.
The organizations I think were involved were the Mafia and the KKK. There are a number of Mafias. There is the Sicilian Mafia, Russian Mafia, and the American Mafia, to name a few. Jack Ruby was associated with the Dallas Mafia. The KKK is basically a cult against everything the Civil Rights movement stands for. One KKK member was Joseph Milteer, the man who had information about the assassination, he could have been an informer. Now, I bet you are wondering how does Oswald fit in to this equation. When he was 19 he tried to give up his American citizenship to be a Soviet citizen. He was denied this, but stayed in the Soviet Union for three more years. During this time, he could have got tangled up with other Mafia members.
This is my opinion of had what happened to kill John F. Kennedy. Do you agree? Do you disagree? Or do you have your own theories? Think about it, and come up with your own conclusion.

Today I learned something very interesting that I did not know. I learned that today is Confederate Memorial Day. It is a day for the remembrance of the men who lost their lives for a lost cause. It has been recognized in five states, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Florida, and Texas. Today, it is only officially recognized in Alabama and Mississippi, where the state offices are closed today. It is an annual holiday, because of it’s cultural influence.
Confederate Memorial Day is celebrated officially today. The first time it was celebrated was April 24th, 1866. The Civil War ended later that year on August 20. Confederate Memorial Day is also known as, Robert E. Lee Day, or Confederate Heroes Day. This holiday is a very controversial matter for both sides of the conflict, because some believe we need to honor the men who lost their lives for the losing side of the war, while others believe we should not honor them because of the cause they fought for. Which side do you stand for?

The Hindenburg
The Titanic Of The Skies.

By:Brinkley Cottingham
In 1937, the technology was getting more advanced, and goals were being set higher. The Hindenburg was an airship, or a blimp, that was a technology also at it’s prime in 1937. It opened the 1937 season with a single round trip to Rio de Janeiro. On May 3, it departed Frankfurt, Germany on it’s first of ten trips scheduled from Europe to U.S, it was it’s second year of commercial flight. Other than strong winds, the trip across the Atlantic was uneventful. Although the airship had only half of it’s passenger capacity filled, the trip back was fully booked. This was because many of the passengers to Germany wanted to see the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The ship had 61 crewman working the ship. The airship was delayed by thunderstorms, so her landing at Lakehurst was hours behind.

The landing started 7:00 p.m. and at 7:25 the Hindenburg caught fire and erupted into flames. Though there were 4 newsreel teams and at least one spectator, along with several photographers, no one has known footage of the Hindenburg erupting into flames. As the Hindenburg fell to the ground, it killed nine of the ten crewmen in the bow. The cell above the passengers fell in. I took 32 to 37 seconds to fall to the ground.

The crash took 33 lives, including 16 year old Irene Doehner, and one ground crewman. Everyone was trying to figure out what happened to the Hindenburg. However, there were several guesses of why. One of them was sabotage. This was possible because the Hindenburg was sponsored by the Nazis. It did not help matters that the sponsorship included the Nazi logo plastered hugely on each side. I know what you’re thinking, why would Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, the inventor of the Hindenburg accept a offer from Nazis? I have three reasons. (1) He was not a politician. He did not think of the consequences. (2) World War Two does not start for another two years, so the Nazis are technically supposed to be subdued. (3) Its simple. He needed money and material and the Nazis were offering it to him. Another suspicion for the crash was that the Hindenburg was built for helium, which has a non-flammable nature, while hydrogen is more flammable. The reason they used hydrogen instead of helium is because hydrogen is cheap and available. No one really knows the truth.

The Hindenburg was very popular because of it’s mystery and footage. It is also featured in songs and shows of today. Here are some of the rumors:It is painted in rocket fuel, or it is painted with thermite.In music, it is also on a Led Zeppelin album cover, and in television, it was featured in the show timeless.Many call it “The Titanic Of The Skies” because of the tragedy of the story.

So today I was riding home from the store with my dad. There are a few rental businesses between us and the store. As we passed one, I saw a U-haul trailer. I noticed that it had a girl with red hair on it. Once we got closer, I was able to read the words on the side, and it said “Prince Edward Island”. It was a U-haul of Anne of Green Gables! I was totally shocked. I had no idea that they even made them. Have you guys seen any unique U-hauls?

Who do you think of when you think of the best college in America? Well, I think of academics, I think of Harvard. When I think of the finer arts, I think of Juilliard. So, which one is better? Here’s the information you need to make this decision.

Harvard. Juilliard
The Acceptance Rate: 5.4% 7.2%
The Average GPA: 4.04% 3.44%
Top Majors: Social Science. Music
Famous Alumni: George W. Bush. Jane Adams
Barack Obama. Michael Urie
Al Gore Jennifer Carpenter
Average Salary: $41,476-$144,028. $50,000-$75,000
Graduation Rates: 98% 88%
Number of Freshman: 2,037. 2,597

All right, so those are the statistics. There is one more thing I would like you to know. The United States is ranked 38th in math and 24th in science. In Cultural Influence, the U.S is ranked 3rd. So which do you think is the better college?

Once upon a time, in a faraway place, was a country. It was a small farming country with little towns dotted across, and the country’s capital city the center of trade and the country. The country was known for its lush green hills, blue skies, fields of grain and livestock, mostly goats. In this country, there was a little village called Blern. Blern was a happy little village, until one summer, the sun was particularly hot that summer, and Blern didn’t get any rain. Many of the crops and livestock died, as the lush green hills turned a prickly yellow. The only crop that was edible was grain because even the food that was stored dried out beyond recognition.Many of the villagers stored food and had just enough to get through the winter. There was a lady in this village, she was the baker, her husband died a time ago, and she had four little children and a cow to feed. Her name was Maria. The cow was a wedding gift from a fairy who was in the village when she was married. The fairy told her that the cow would live very long and never dry out. So when the drought came, Maria had plenty of milk. However, even though she too had saved the grain she bought, halfway through that dreadful winter she ran out of grain because she was the baker. She asked many villagers to buy their grain, but they said they had barely enough for their own family. So she went to the farmers and they all said the same. So when she went home, she, her children, and the cow, all drank milk for dinner. The next morning, Maria got up early, went to the kitchen and tried to figure out what to do, while she prayed for an answer. A few minutes later she was startled by a knock. She answered the door to see Farmer Alec. He was a young man just a year or two years older than she. He had two children, but his wife had died from an illness the same year as Maria’s husband did. “I heard you were needing grain” Farmer Alec started. “Yes, I was asking several families yesterday if they had any to spare.” Maria replied suspiciously, not knowing where he was going with this. “Well, you didn’t ask me.” He said accusingly. Maria thought it was a bit funny that he was accusing her of not asking him for something, when they very rarely spoke to each other. “ You live very far off the path” she told him. “Not if you go in a wagon, you can actually- Wait! That’s not my point. My point was I would like to make you a deal.” He said waiting to see her reaction. “Oh?” Maria said, her eyebrows raised. “Yes, you see I had a larger grain harvest last summer than many of the villagers so I can spare enough to last you the winter.But I don’t want money”, he rushed when she turned to go get her coins so she would turn around. “I need something else.” He continued when she turned around. “Well, what do you need?” Maria asked, slightly confused. “I would like to trade grain for milk. MY cows died in the summer and our well froze last night so we are in need. Would you like to commit to this trade?” Farmer Alec asked with a hopeful look in his eyes. Maria thought of her children in their rooms, his children, and the prayers she had been praying just minutes ago. She stuck her hand out, “All right, we have a deal.”Maria said with a smile, Farmer Alec smiled too, and shook her hand.
The deal between Maria and Farmer Alec was a great success. Maria and her family kept the business going and Farmer Alec and his children were never thirsty. Through out the deal, Maria and Farmer Alec saw a lot of each other and eventually fell in love with each other. They were married in the spring, and they joined their family together in Farmer Alec’s house, and every morning Maria and the six children loaded into the wagon and went to the bakery, and went home in the wagon. They lived happily ever after.

The Bastille was a french prison known for being a place of horror, meant to be feared by all. It was built in Paris in the 1380s to the 1390s to intimidate England during the Hundred Years War. It was continually used for several centuries housing the rebels, traitors, and the bold, brave, outspoken individuals. Some of these locked individuals were Francois-Marie Arouet, better known as Voltaire, for his writings on religion and politics for nearly a year. Another was John Vanbrugh, who was an architect, but was arrested for delivering messages to William of Orange. He was kept in two different prisons before he was transferred to Bastille for a short time. During the late 18th century, the treatment of the French citizens was ghastly. This type of treatment led to the French Revolution. The French Revolution led to the Storming of Bastille which destroyed the prison. All seven prisoners were released, four forgers, two lunatics, and a man charged with sexual misdemeanor. One of the “lunatics” was an Irishmen named Major Whyte, who sported a waist length beard and believed himself to be Julius Caesar. Ten Swiss guards and ninety-eight sans-culottes, who were urban workers artisans, and minor landowners, died on July 14, 1789, which was the day of the Storming of Bastille. July 14 is now a national french holiday. The Storming of Bastille is considered a national holiday because it symbolizes freedom.

By:Brinkley Cottingham 4-17-17