2012

2012. One of my best years at Pt England school, and also my last.
At the start of the year, I was placed in Room 20. In the beginning I actually thought this year wouldn't turn out as I planned, but it turned put even better. I made some new friends, learnt new things. The achievement I am most proud of this year is becoming a Prefect, I got to put my leadership skills to the test.

This year has it's ups and downs the negative side has to be, leaving Pt England school. I will miss this Primary. The thing I wasn't proud of this year was getting work uncompleted and talking which I have learnt to control.

Orientation Day

On Thursday it was our orientation day at Tamaki College.  So all the Yr 8's attended three classes, the subjects were Science, Music and English. Below I wrote about the time I spent in Music. 

Our 2nd rotation, Music. “What is your team called?”, asked Mr Telefoni(Music Teacher) I hesitated and said “Ummm...BOB!”. My team members, Sylvia and Selena laughed hysterically. The other team names were, ‘Mary Poppins’ and ‘ 4 Main Men’. We were all competing in a quiz Mr Telefoni had prepared for us.

“What is the 2nd most viewed video on YouTube, in the world?”, asked Mr T.  Selena’s hand quickly sprang up,
“Justin Bieber - Baby! “,
“You are correct, one point for BOB, next question, Which musician died of Cancer to his toes?”
“ Bob Marley”, answered Naomi (team member of ‘Mary Poppins’)

“You are Correct! Now for the next challenge you have to write a rap or a song about school and perform it to the class”, said Mr T. All three of us thought long and hard for about 2 minutes, until the idea popped in to Selena’s head. Selena said, “ I have an idea, it goes...”.

“It’s time to move on, to your 3rd rotation”, said Mr Telefoni, having to move on to our 3rd rotation, we didn’t have time to perform our rap to the class. Apart from that I had a FANTASTIC experience in Music.

Toy Creation

In Extension we were set on a task. This was to receive an object from Mrs Tele'a and make it into a toy, somehow. The object I received was a calculator. So I thought long and hard until the idea popped in to my head. Below are my results.

If your ever get bored in class then my toy is just for you! It LOOKS like a calculator, but it secretly turns into a gameboy. There's no need for batteries since the whole thing is Solar powered. This toy is for ages 9 - 15.  

Instructions: 

Simply touch the 'ON' button to activate the device.

To switch to the gameboy, press 'MRC'. The screen automatically goes wide.

To switch back to the calculator, press the '+' button.

To go left press 1, to go right press 3, to go down press 2 and to go up press 5.

The aim of the game is to collect as many diamonds as you can, to save the world from destruction. BUT its not that easy, there's ninja's that will attack at any point.  You must fight until the end, and collect ALL 14 diamonds. 1 LUCKY player must do all of this. 

Spoken Word Poem

Where I am from I see food being made with fresh ingredients bought from the market
Where I am from I hear the wind howl in between the trees
Where I am from I taste Mango freshly picked from a tree
Where I am from I feel the cool air in between my hair

Toy Research

In Extension we were assigned to research a toy and find out the following.

Name of Toy : Razor Scooter
Year : 1999/became popular in 2000
Manufactured: JD Corporation
Origins: Shanghai, Taiwan
Invented: MMS (Micro Mobility Systems)
Inventor: Gino Tsai
Cost: $90 - $130(NZ) $140 - $250(Pro Model)
Audience: 10 - Teens
Bigger: Make the deck bigger.
Add: Breaks, to make it easier to stop.
Replace: The wheels, with bigger wheels.


Facts:
1. The Razor Scooter took 5 years to design
2. There are many models of the Razor Scooter (e.g. Pro/Ultra Model, First/Second Generation models)
3. The Razor Scooter has changed in many ways, for example there is now an Electric Razor Scooter

The Farm House (Narrative)

As Leslie walked cautiously through the grassy path, a ray of sun pierced through the clouds. Trying to avoid the murky puddles, she smiled with relief as she could no longer feel droplets falling on her. Sweat dripped down Leslie’s tan face, as she walked continuously for hours.

She’d always fought and argued with her stepmother, but this time it was personal. So she fled. Just as Leslie was looking for shelter, the sky turned dim and gloomy. Walking towards a figure in the distance was salvation. As she reached the farm barn, the door creaked open slowly as she made her way in.

Opposite her was a, stack of hay. Well its all there was, so she slept on the stack of hay overnight. Waking up early in the morning, Leslie continued her journey for salvation. On her journey she had to face daring, treacherous pathways. She also encountered with a rattle snake.

Leslie had always feared snakes and so the day had to face her fears...or run. She ran for her life and out of nowhere, a helicopter came to her rescue. “HELP! HELP!” Leslie yelled jumping up and down. With her cold hand, she felt her heartbeat and safely climbed the ladder up to the door.

To her amazement, her real mother appeared to be seated in the helicopter. “MUM”, cried Leslie.
They lived happily ever after.

Thanks to Sylvia for helping me write this. 

The Bush (Writing Sample)

With not much comfort but a tent and her friends, Emma was shivering. With the wind howling and trees shaking, It sent shivers down her spine. As the sun rose the next morning, Emma awoke to Mark already cooking breakfast.
“Where did you get the wood from?”, asked Emma curiously.
“I got it from the forest, where else.” Mark said with a tone of sarcasm.
“Hey wheres Harry?”
“I dunno, I thought he was with you” replied Mark.
“HHAARRYY! WHERE ARE YOU?”, shouted Mark with a slight emotion of worry. Emma began to worry, “ Let’s go find him!”. They searched all day and still there was no sign of Harry. Night time began to get closer and closer, so they both headed off towards their camp site without Harry.

Emma and Mark started heading towards their campsite. “AAAAAAAAHHHHH”, screamed Emma, what was that.
“What was what?”.
“I..I.. just saw something move”, replied Emma with great fright.
“HEELLPP MMEEE”, replied another voice.
Emma and Mark moved closer to the voice they believed was Harry’s.

“HARRY!” screamed Emma with great surprise. “ What happened to you, Harry? “, said Mark.
“Well I was just exploring the forest until...some tall hideous creature attacked me, it said stay away from here”.
“Let’s get a move on then” said Mark

As they got back to their campsite it looked like a warzone. Everything ripped to shreds, all their supplies stolen. Never the less they ran towards a nearby road to find their car. As they got into their car a dark tall cloaked creature approached them. Even worse was that their car wouldn’t start. Their fuel tank was empty. Suddenly.....

They were never to be seen again. Nobody knows what happened to them but legend goes that they were taken by the tall man who has no face. Their bodies were never recovered.
“HHAARRYY! WHERE ARE YOU?”, shouted Mark with a slight emotion of worry. Emma began to worry, “ Let’s go find him!”. They searched all day and still there was no sign of Harry. Night time began to get closer and closer, so they both headed off towards their camp site without Harry.
Emma and Mark started heading towards their campsite. “AAAAAAAAHHHHH”, screamed Emma, what was that.
“What was what?”.
“I..I.. just saw something move”, replied Emma with great fright.
“HEELLPP MMEEE”, replied another voice.
Emma and Mark moved closer to the voice they believed was Harry’s.

“HARRY!” screamed Emma with great surprise. “ What happened to you, Harry? “, said Mark.
“Well I was just exploring the forest until...some tall hideous creature attacked me, it said stay away from here”.
“Let’s get a move on then” said Mark

As they got back to their campsite it looked like a warzone. Everything ripped to shreds, all their supplies stolen. Never the less they ran towards a nearby road to find their car. As they got into their car a dark tall cloaked creature approached them. Even worse was that their car wouldn’t start. Their fuel tank was empty. Suddenly.....

They were never to be seen again. Nobody knows what happened to them but legend goes that they were taken by the tall man who has no face. Their bodies were never recovered.
Emma and Mark started heading towards their campsite. “AAAAAAAAHHHHH”, screamed Emma, what was that.
“What was what?”.
“I..I.. just saw something move”, replied Emma with great fright.
“HEELLPP MMEEE”, replied another voice.
Emma and Mark moved closer to the voice they believed was Harry’s.
“HARRY!” screamed Emma with great surprise. “ What happened to you, Harry? “, said Mark.
“Well I was just exploring the forest until...some tall hideous creature attacked me, it said stay away from here”.
“Let’s get a move on then” said Mark

As they got back to their campsite it looked like a warzone. Everything ripped to shreds, all their supplies stolen. Never the less they ran towards a nearby road to find their car. As they got into their car a dark tall cloaked creature approached them. Even worse was that their car wouldn’t start. Their fuel tank was empty. Suddenly.....

They were never to be seen again. Nobody knows what happened to them but legend goes that they were taken by the tall man who has no face. Their bodies were never recovered.
“HARRY!” screamed Emma with great surprise. “ What happened to you, Harry? “, said Mark.
“Well I was just exploring the forest until...some tall hideous creature attacked me, it said stay away from here”.
“Let’s get a move on then” said Mark
As they got back to their campsite it looked like a warzone. Everything ripped to shreds, all their supplies stolen. Never the less they ran towards a nearby road to find their car. As they got into their car a dark tall cloaked creature approached them. Even worse was that their car wouldn’t start. Their fuel tank was empty. Suddenly.....

They were never to be seen again. Nobody knows what happened to them but legend goes that they were taken by the tall man who has no face. Their bodies were never recovered.
As they got back to their campsite it looked like a warzone. Everything ripped to shreds, all their supplies stolen. Never the less they ran towards a nearby road to find their car. As they got into their car a dark tall cloaked creature approached them. Even worse was that their car wouldn’t start. Their fuel tank was empty. Suddenly.....
They were never to be seen again. Nobody knows what happened to them but legend goes that they were taken by the tall man who has no face. Their bodies were never recovered.
They were never to be seen again. Nobody knows what happened to them but legend goes that they were taken by the tall man who has no face. Their bodies were never recovered.

Narrative - Orientation

Today we had to write a narrative (only the orientation). We had to write about the picture below.

Here is what I produced this morning :

Petrified with fear of the British soldiers, I hid amongst the many trees. I soon grew weary of them, just waiting for them to pass one by one. Trying not to breath heavily, I came to realize there was no more than the sound of silence, but the wind howling in the great dim sky.

Tommy Kapai Wilson

Here is a presentation about Tommy Kapai Wilson, Me, Lesley and Sylvia were assigned to do.
Enjoy

Olympic Day

“ARGENTINA”, I heard the people roar. To my sight I saw a sea of multi-coloured t-shirts. A procession was held in honour of this event.  Chanting and cheering filled my ears,”GO MEXICO!”. Everyone was truly hyped for what we had planned for today. We had a rotation of various activities.

First up was volleyball, not just any volleyball though. The number 1 rule was that you had to be seated at all times, it sounded quite hard . My team did pretty well seeing it was their first time. I had to be the umpire since I was the leader of Mexico.

Everyone tried their best to resist getting off their bottoms. As the umpire I saw a few sneaky tricks. Watching my own team lose, I predicted they would come back and score. My prediction was correct, with the points tied at 9, it was that one extra point that would make a difference. "C'mon Mexico", I shouted anxiously. The ball was off,it flew up in the air and over the net. It was nail biting momment, but Mexico won the challenge in the end.

Handball. It was quite a challenge playing against Argentina. All I could hear was everyone arguing saying it was a full, double bounce and full carry. My partner was Mubasshira who isn’t quite the best at handball, but I desperately was in need of a partner.

We were up and it was against the boys. I was getting the ball all the time because Mubasshira didn’t even attempt to get the ball, trying my best we were later disqualified for letting the ball go out.

The day was coming to an end, and everyone learnt about how to work together and about teamwork. If you can work in a team you can accomplish many things.

Sports Rotation

Making my way to the hall I was saturated by the pouring blustery rain. With the treacherous weather, I was wondering if the sports event was going to be postponed.  But as usual the show must go on! This was going to be an Olympic themed sports competition.

We were all separated according to our House teams, Takitimu(Yellow), Te Arawa(Red), Tainui(Blue) and Matatua(Green). I was the captain of one of the teams for Takitimu.  

Our first activity was an obstacle course with Miss V. We had to maneuver through the cones whilst kicking a ball, then walk across an unstable chair, under and over some platforms and kick the ball into the goal. Unable to stop laughing, I was falling behind. “Oh No, not the jump!”, I was panicking, because I thought I wouldn’t make it over the platform.  Indeed I did make it over.

Next was Mr Slade with some cyber fitness, which was enjoyable. It was one of the activities were you could relax and have fun. Unlike everybody else I tried to do some of the moves.

The day was filled with fun, laughter and teamwork. We all supported each other throughout the whole day.

Social 2012

“10 minutes left!”, I exclaimed. As I was dressed within the theme(NZ Olympic Sports Team) I was ready to go. Entering the Yr 7 & 8 Social, my eyes widened with fascination, the lights were the center attention of the hall. Running the Social I was accompanied by the other fellow prefects, Selena, Toreka, Sylvia, Joe and Samson.

The night was still young and the social had just began. Minutes later the hall was full with music pumping. All around I could see people dancing to the music, under the shimmering lights.  

A popular song request was made after the crowd demanded it. It was no other than the one and only ‘Gangam Style’. As soon as the song played everyone began to get hyped and started dancing.

A dougie was held and as usual only one can win. With the many entries, we lowered it down to two. With the contestants giving it their all, I could see it was a tough competition. The winner was declared...Nezinli(boy).

But as usual everything must come to an end. After the social I was asked if there was going to be another social, I smiled with a cheeky grin and walked away.

A Mournful Loss

“One small step for man . One giant leap for mankind.” Words once said by the great Neil Armstrong. He was the first human to step foot on the moon. Unfortunately at the age of 82 this reluctant American hero passed away due to complications of heart surgery. The world
mourns the loss.

Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin along with the help of Michael Collins, marked a monumental historic event, by landing on the moon. Not only was it a race against the Soviets, but it was successful.  This made Neil Armstrong one America’s greatest hero's.

Running

As part of our E-learning project for this year, we were assigned to make an animation about running. Above is my completed project. Enjoy!

Cross Country

Out of breath, I was desperately trying to reach the finish line. With a mud splattered back I was trying to maneuver along the treacherous track. Gasping for breath as various people passed me I thought to myself, "Oh no, I'm getting further and further behind." On my way to the bridge I encountered some of my fellow classmates starting to lag. With a burst of speed I passed them.

Shocked at how much mud had clung on to my shoes, I began to walk. Lagging behind again, I thought a steady jog would help. Pushing myself I picked up my pace. Halfway through the track though I felt a feeling of dread come as my muscles started to ache with pain.


Unsure of where my whereabouts I heard the sound of cheering and I was sure I was near the finish line. Drained of energy, I started to walk. My determination and perseverance disintegrated as I got nearer and nearer to the finish line.


Close to the finish line, I thought I should really sprint now but I was too exhausted. To be honest I wasn’t really proud of my determination, since I walked nearly the whole way. It didn’t really matter to me what I had placed, in the end its all about participating.

Valerie's Silver Medal

Valerie Adams, valiantly attempted to defend her title at this year's 2012 Olympics. She worked tirelessly towards this event desperate to gain another gold medal. However disappointment struck as Valerie was unable to defend her title, losing to Belarus’s Nadzeya Ostapchuck. Visibly upset, she was still proud of her achievements and showing gratitude towards her coach, Jean Pierre Eggar.  An emotional evening, it was.

Animators Apprentice

Why Smoke When you can Live?

Smoking kills, this is one of many ways of dying.

The illnesses associated with smoking are cancer, heart problems, which can also lead to amputations and other diseases that can harm the body. These are the many effects of smoking which are caused by the 4000 chemicals in the cigarette, including nicotine and tobacco.  The chemicals travel first into the immune system then into your blood.

Smoking not only affects the inside of your body, it also affects your appearance on the outside as well. Your face looks old, wrinkles start to appear faster, you teeth start to rot and your brain doesn’t function properly. The movie room 20 watched gave a good example. The lady looked as if she was in her late 70’s, but it shocked me she was only in her early 40’s.

You can save up to hundreds of dollars a month and thousands of dollars a year, by not purchasing cigarette packets. Saving money to provide for your family and yourself, could change your life and people around you. Also, you could set an example for children on how to save their own money and their earnings.

Why do people start smoking? They could be doing it to impress people, trying to be cool or even trying to get rid of the stress you have. These are just a couple of points why people start to smoke. Think this before you smoke, what are the benefits of smoking?

When people decide to smoke, it increases your chances of having cancer. It also causes addiction, one smoke after another. 

I wrote this with the help of Sylvia

Brown Brother

Joshua Iosefo is a boy of pacific nation, who is a prefect at Mt Roskill Grammar. He wrote a poem about stereotypes and discrimination against pacific islanders. He then shared that speech the with the whole of Mt Roskill Grammar, his speech was recorded, then put on YouTube.


The poem ‘Brown Brother’, included many stereotypes. Stereotypes is labeling a whole group with certain characteristics. Within the poem it included stereotypes such as, never graduating from college, dropping out, teen pregnancy and many more. You can believe in a stereotype or not but just because everyone else is doesn't mean you have too.


This speech inspired me to do more because I'm a pacific islander,- don’t be scared to dream big, achieve, believe and succeed. I can do whatever in the future, but I have to believe in myself to make those dreams come true.

Precious McKenzie

Precious McKenzie the weightlifter, was preparing himself mentally for the final lift. The weight of the bar showed no mercy and brought tension to his body.  As muscles grew taunt his veins were bulging, with struggle to continue. reaching towards the end he was determined to succeed.


Sylvia and Jarna accompanied me on completing these paragraphs.