Orange Education Center

This is about a teenager who shares his experiences from the afterlife.  Chuy was murdered in his school restroom.  After that Chuy began his journey in the dead world as a ghost.  He started when he saw himself on the floor in a bloody lagoon.  At first he did not know what happened, but then everything started to make sense.  When air came in from the door, Chuy’s body moves like a leaf in the fall.  The first day he couldn’t control his body, but later he discovered the way to do that.  He just made some tension on his stomach muscles and that way he stayed in one place.  Then he visited his parents’ house and friends’ house.  After several days his hands and arms began to disappear.  In his journey he met a lady ghost with whom he fell in love forever.   They traveled around their town together, and saved the life of a homeless person.  This man was lying on the floor with a temperature, the lady covered him with her cold body and he got much better, but after a few days he died.  And they met him as a ghost too.  Chuy found his murderer. He was looking at his yellow shoes and then he killed him with a knife.  A stupid reason and he asked him, “Why did you do it?” Screaming at him, he couldn’t hear, but he could felt his coldest and got so much more scared.  At the end Chuy understood a lot of things about his family and friends. He could see from a different view, what his mother would always tell him not to do.  He lamented his own death, because it saddened his family and friends. It was for an insignificant reason.  But now in his afterlife with the lady ghost he was very happy until they both disappeared into the air.

by Myrna

School is the best education for everybody. In the school you learn a lot including reading and writing. Without schools, it is hard to get an education. We can’t write and read. I want to be the best student.  In school you can learn a lot of what you need to know. If you don’t know how to write, you can learn how to in school. If you don’t know how to read, you can learn how to read.  School is the best place to get an education.

I am nice and sad

I wonder if people like me

I hear my name a lot

I see my friends every time

I want to sing good

I am nice and sad

I pretend to be happy

I feel sad

I touch my friend’s hand

I worry about my friends

I cry when I miss someone

I am nice and sad

I understand the feelings

I say let’s be nice

I dream about my friends

I try not to cry

I hope my wish comes true

I am nice and sad

If I had to say I was afraid of something it would have to be children in scary movies. I mean movies like Children of the Corn or something like that, films that exploit the innocence of children and turn it into something menacing and creepy. I don’t know why, just thinking about cute little kids turning into little demon babies or zombie children is so freaky. So to sum it up in a nutshell, kids that are in scary films looking all creepy and such give me the ibbys. Well that, and clowns… come on, who likes clowns?

I am full of pain and hope

I wonder what’s behind the blue door

I hear the trees speak

I see colors in all music

I want to have a proper family

I am full of pain and hope

I pretend to be indifferent

I feel the suns warm embrace

I touch the edge of my damaged  heart

I worry that true love will always elude me

I am full of pain and hope

I understand the future is not set in stone

I say perseverance is the key

I dream about receiving a warm kiss

I try to come out stronger everyday

I hope that one day I find what I’m looking for

I am full of pain and hope

I’m afraid of several different things. First, I’m afraid of lions because lions can eat people.  Also, I’m afraid of spiders, because they can bite. Also, I’m afraid of people who like to kill people or children.  In addition, I’m afraid of animals that bite people.  In addition I’m also afraid of falling from a bicycle. Falling from a bicycle can result in serious injury.  I’m afraid when the other people insult me because that is not kind. These are things I am afraid of.

The situation in my country is very sad because the government kills people in the street for no reason. People in Iran don’t have freedom, no freedom and no freedom of speech. Those things in Iran make me sad. Can you imagine if one of your family members is living in this country? My sister is living in Iran. I’m so sad and worried because something could happen to her. I’m trying to bring her to the U.S.A to get her a better life. I hope that the president of U.S.A could do something for my country and my family and friends. In the U.S.A there are a lot of Iranian people who are going to the university and studying to be someone who can help their country.

What makes me sad is when a loved one gets hurt. It always feels really helpless when a loved one is suffering. Like this one time a few buddies of mine invited me to go to a party with them, but I told them I couldn’t because I was working that night. It just so happened that my friends got into a fight there and one of them got hurt badly, like ER bad. I sometimes think that maybe it would have been different if I was there. It makes me sad when I think about all the other things that could have made the situation worse. Also, what makes me sad is when I can’t do anything to cheer them up. But what sometimes makes me sad most of all, is when I wish that I could stop them from getting hurt at all… but I know I can’t. So in conclusion, what makes me sad is when pals and family get emotionally or physically hurt. For example, situations such as getting into fights, or arguing with other people so bad that they end up getting their feelings hurt, and friends getting into accidents, kind of like a car crash or something. I hope one day that I can be there for one of my loved ones when it counts.

What makes me angry are chronic liars. To me I think liars are the worse kind of person. It always confuses ne that many people think its okay to lie. Well, it’s not.  Many people have been affected by a lie and most of it negative. People who lie make it hard to trust them or even be friends with them. It is never a good feeling being with a liar. They make you feel like their hiding.  Also the worst thing of all is when good pals lie to each other. For example, one time I told one of my friends that I was moving to another street in the same city, but I didn’t know exactly where. So I wanted him to tell me everything that went on with my girlfriend at school. He said ok and that he would keep an eye on her. Well, when I got back a week later he didn’t even bother telling me that they were dating already. So, in conclusion liars are what make me the angriest. Even the lie itself and hurt a person more than the liar, and much longer too. Also most of all a chronic will liar never keep any friends around if they don’t learn to stop.

I get angry when someone judges me unfairly. I feel like that because they don’t know me. For example, I get frustrated with my daughters. I want the best for them. But, now the big one worries me, because she is only 3 years old, and she likes to jump on my couch. She might hurt herself. When  I tell, her something she tells me, “Mommy, you don’t love me”. It’s hard to show her my worries about when she doesn’t understand me. But, I know I need to watch her more. This makes me sad because she thinks I don’t love her.

I would recommend this book El Guero to other readers, because we can learn that in hard times we can survive and solve our problems. Also, I think that people should take risks for a better future. In this book El Guero’s father made difficult decisions for himself, his country, and his family. Moreover, in this true adventure story, El Guero taught us that  family must be together in hard times in order to fight for justice, because  truth always triumphs over the enemy. Finally, El Guero’s father was free and triumphant. He was a man of law. He believed that a system of law governing the conduct of the public was the finest invention of the human mind. In conclusion, I learned that in difficult times we can survive and solve our problems.

This semester I learned vocabulary, reading, and writing. I used the dictionary effectively. I completed vocabulary in context and vocabulary development. I figured out the meaning of new words by using contextual analysis skills. Also, I used the computer software, Plato for reading. I learned the fundamental reading strategies. I use this skill to read, understand, and enjoy everyday reading materials such as the newspapers, books, and magazines. Finally, I wrote a variety of paragraphs about my life, about my school, and about my workplace. In conclusion, I completed vocabulary, reading, and writing this semester.

By Alicia