Aleah's Poem/Song

Aleah's Poem/Song

Verse1

When everythings going right

I don’t know why we choose to fight

(He starts it, but still makes everything better,

things get hard but I know we’re in it forever)

Chorus

I've been contemplating if I’m really strong as I thought, boy I might be

Quick to pull me down but as much as I’ve seen, I can’t fall, it’s unlikely

I'm getting carried away

Still gonna marry you some day

I’ve been contemplating if i’m really strong as I thought, boy I might be

Quick to pull me down but as much as I've seen, I can’t fall, it’s unlikely

I'm getting carried away

Still gonna marry you some day

Verse2

Your trust is hard to earn

we’ve both made some mistakes,

But I’ve never felt a love so strong

I knew I wasn’t wrong

(add more to verse)

I've been contemplating if I’m really strong as I thought, boy I might be

Quick to pull me down but as much as I’ve seen, I can’t fall, it’s unlikely

I'm getting carried away

Still gonna marry you some day

Bridge

        

I’ve been contemplating if i’m really strong as I thought, boy I might be

Quick to pull me down but as much as I’ve seen, I can’t fall, it’s unlikely

I'm getting carried away

Still gonna marry you some day

A Day I will Remember

A day I will always remember was the day my grandpa broke my heart into a million pieces and didn’t respect my grief in any way, shape, or form. My grandma Denise passed away a few weeks before thanksgiving of 2015. She died from a bad mix of pills. Her older brother gave her some pills to help her with some medical issues that she was having knowing that it wouldn’t mix well with her everyday medicine for depression and anxiety. Denise only asked for the pills because she was too scared to actually just go in to the doctor’s office. Her brother later on found out that she passed, and he admitted to giving her the pills knowing that it would most likely kill her. I am so angry!  I hope that he has the worst karma for the rest of his life. She was the most sweet, loving, caring, respectful, understanding, and amazing women. She always listened to me when I needed to talk, and she was always there for me. It broke my heart when she passed away.

 I remember when my dad told me that she died. Right after he said it my legs turned to jell-o. I fell to the floor crying and yelling. A couple weeks later my grandpa called and told me that he was going to come up for Thanksgiving so we could all grieve about grandma as a family. Thanksgiving Day came along and he knocked on the door around 11 in the morning. I opened the door and I instantly was angry. He introduced me to this old wrinkly women that was standing next to him. His exact words were, “I’d like you to meet Patricia, my current girlfriend.” I immediately went and told everyone that he brought his new girlfriend before he got to them. They were all astonished. I couldn’t believe that my grandpa could be so cruel and mean. I was expecting just my grandpa so we could grieve but instead he brought a new girlfriend. I ended up staying in my bedroom the entire time he was there. Later on, when dinner was done, he asked me why I wasn’t downstairs with the family and I just said that it was because I wasn’t in a good mood. I didn’t talk to my grandpa for about a year after that happened and it really sucks. I never really told him about how I felt about her but it doesn’t matter because a few months after that thanksgiving he married her.

-Bryanna Daves

Should Crossroads have Open Campus?

      Recently at our school, Crossroads High School in Granite Falls, we lost our privilege to have open campus lunch. With open campus lunch we had the opportunity to leave 15 minutes into lunch and do whatever we pleased, for the most part. But with the luxury we also had some strict rules set. One being that you must return back to school on time after lunch time. Our school provided an even longer lunch than last year so we had more time to eat, hang out with friends, and spend time outside, but students still took this to their advantage. Some more rules we had to follow in order to keep open campus was to be respectful and clean up after ourselves. Since it wasn’t a secret that the majority of the students would go smoke cigarettes outside, it was expected of us to clean up the cigarette butts and put them in the cans we had provided for that. Since one of the main places to go at lunch is the car wash, conveniently placed by the street, we are obviously expected to stay out of the road in the way of cars.

         Sadly, though, our privilege to do that was taken away by the police. Which means not only do we not really have a chance to get it back, but we also made that much of a negative impact that the police had to get involved. A large crowd of us would typically be by the car wash, by the road, and that was a part of the reason we got it taken away. Another, bigger, reason is because a student, who’s staying anonymous, acted inappropriately towards someone who had a great impact on where we could hangout during lunch time. I don’t know exactly what the situation was, but we students weren’t happy about it. There was a good handful of students who, daily, would take advantage of open campus and come back late, and when we had off campus they would still leave without permission. When those individuals, who were usually the same, did things like that then the whole school would get punished, so we wanted to kind of compromise and only punish those who deserve it or make it more fair as to where only certain students who are eligible can have open campus lunch. Because even though open campus might just be seen as an escape to smoke cigarettes, many students used the time to actually drive and get food for lunch.

-Jordan Trussell

Why should we have open campus? Personally, I believe it's good for students to take control of something small every day. A breath of fresh air, or perhaps a quick stop at a coffee stand can brighten an otherwise glum and repetitious day. I loved being able to walk to the local grocery store, as it gave me incentive to do some exercise, as I live a rather sedentary lifestyle more often than not. Anyways, a break outside of a suffocating building can be phenomenal.

Yes. Some people definitely screwed it up, but I firmly stand in my belief that it was lack of proper punishment and select behavior that led to the removal of open campus. Students did not consider the small task of sitting in at lunch a big enough obstacle to stop them from constantly skipping. Moreso, it was only a few individuals who repeated the task. The unfortunate fact about alternative schools is their bad rap, and the few trouble makers become the face of the whole school. Everyone at crossroads does burnouts in front of semis. Everyone at crossroads curses out friendly local business owners. Everyone is a delinquent, because humans focus on the negative, because the negative is the loudest. So, that loudest incident becomes definitive of the whole school, and it’s an unfortunate reality that the masses suffer due to the misbehavior of a few individuals.

And to conclude, yes, some kids do misuse the time given, but frankly, what high school doesn't have its delinquents? Everywhere you go you will find people who wish to push the envelope in anything they do, and the difference is containment. You have to make sure they don't repeat the action, lest the punishment become a fair price for the crime, and the perpetrators grow. Most if not all students are trustworthy, and a lot do have behavioral issues, but isn't that also true of those who’ve experienced traumas as well?

At crossroads we see a concentration of kids who've gone through monstrous events, and have found admittedly unhealthy ways to cope, but you can't just ignore it, and that's not everyone all the time. I have my own issues, and enjoy the chance to grab food I can eat easier, as I have a very picky stomach due to anxiety. Anyways, those who made mistakes definitely deserved to have their open campus taken away, but to punish the many for the mistakes of the few is unfair. And as I leave you, I reiterate, when the punishment is lacking, misbehavior breeds.

-Vail Bates

Racism in the World

Racism is still a big problem with this world. I see it every day. I see it in almost everyone. They will always have accusations towards another person's skin color. Name calling is the biggest one. You may already know them, but for the safety of my own education, I shall not say them.

I am usually hearing conversations talking about simple things and all of sudden race comes into it. I know everyone knows this because it´s talked about everywhere. I hear racism in media, where most people are influenced. I just hate to hear certain words and accusations said and people let it off the hook.

I am tired of racism in this world. Many riots and killings happen because of it and I don't think that Racism should be promoted through media. It's like it’s a joke though some people. One person in particular I think who uses it too much as a joke is Kevin Hart. He always is talking about his race and using it as a joke. I don't know how that's funny, but I don't think that should be accepted by others.

Many people get picked on for their skin color because they do certain things that aren't accepted by their skin color. Such as walking and talking with a group of another race. That’s a big one. You might have so many things in common with them, yet it’s unacceptable for them to hang out because of their skin color.

Goldman Sachs made limited loaning to darker skinned because of racist views. It happened when a person started went into a meeting with the wealth manager of Goldman Sachs and he started saying racial slurs at her and had her removed because she was black and Jewish. This only happened two years ago (basically a year ago). Racism is still thriving in business matters. Why can’t we all just come together, but no we all have to be at each other's throats because of small differences. I can get it if you’re mentally insane, but come on. You guys must have a conscious.

-Terran Freeman