Here are some samples from your daily journals...

"My December Break" by Tara Hanau

Instead of being in Boston’s cold, snowy weather, I was in Florida’s warm, humid, palm tree weather. The sun was shining beautifully every day while I was either at the pool, beach, or just outside enjoying the sun. I spent lots of time with my grandparents who live in Miami Beach Florida, by going to the movies or just talking to them. When I was at the beach with my siblings, we would go into the ocean together to look for seashells. After a week and a half of hot, nice weather we had to go back to the cold weather here in Boston.

“Untitled” by Ariana Turk

Under I go! Splashed into the water, and start going down, down, down. Now I am able to touch the velvet sand, and see the fish perfectly. Scaly fins, soft sand it feels so great! I swim a couple more feet and see another scuba diver, I wave and keep going. A couple more feet into the water, and see this green looking animal, my foot hits it and it. I realize that it is a turtle. Then from under the water I hear someone calling my name and I wake up from my dream.

"My Sukkot Trip" by Eviatar Irshai

On Sukkot vacation I went up to Maine with my family. We went to Acadia Park for three days. On the third day of the trip we rented 3 pairs of bikes. We split into two groups: my father, my older brother and I who went to a bike trip, and my mother and my little brothers who went shopping in the city. The trip was challenging and I especially liked the view of Acadia Park. The bike trip took us three hours, and in the middle of the road we stopped for lunch in a restaurant. When we finished the trail, my mother picked us up and we tied the bikes to the back of the car. Apparently, we did not tie them on well because on the way back to the rental bike store, the bikes detached from the car and were thrown up into the air. Luckily, there were no cars behind us, so no damage was caused to other cars or people. However, the 3 bikes were completely ruined and we had to call for help to move them away from the road. This adventure made the trip more exciting and unforgettable.

“Poultry Poem” by Yoni Schoenberg

The ducks were fierce

The chickens were strong

The turkeys were mean

The war was long

With man they fought

They were rebelling that’s right

No more eating poultry they cried

Just don’t take another bite

The humans were upset

For poultry is good

Stupid birds they cried

We’ll strangle you with pudding

Oh no you won’t they cried

Their eyes red with rage

We value our lives

Until we’re as old as a sage

The war raged on and on

The humans had machine guns

The ducks had pistols

The chickens were having FUN

The turkeys could neither run nor fly

The birds didn’t have much of a chance

A miracle happened though

And they got some magical pants

These magical pants helped them out so, so much

They killed all the humans

Stripped them of their guns

And ruled the world

That is why to this day

There are no humans on Earth

The birds killed them all

And started a new birth

What can we learn from this you might ask?

If you are being killed off, in the sun you should not bask

You should stand up for what you believe in

And not just stand there like a can made of tin

And above all

Over everything else

You should never ever, ever

Threaten to strangle a bird with pudding