Updates from a World Traveler: Kaylee Crawford.

"I love taking japanese photo booth pictures because they're so cute!"

Japan is probably my favorite place in the entire world. I'm awfully spoiled to be able to have gone twice in the last year! I want to live there when I'm older, and I'm confident I have the means to. I probably won't be able to go again for at least 5 years in which I would be
travelling alone--which is awfully nerve-wracking--but I enjoy the times
I've been there so much. I learn new things about the land I want to live
in that make me want to live in it more.
As an aspiring idol, I got to perform in a car to j-pop music. I was surprised at how much the customers liked it, because I didn't think it was
anything special. Maybe it was special to them because I was a foreigner and there's barely any of me over there, haha! I had ladies dancing with me and people singing with me, it was probably one of the best memories of my
life. I also got to visit a lolita shop, and for those of you who don't know,
lolita is a fashion that I absolutely love! I got a brand name dress, which was so expensive but so worth it! I feel like the brand is similar to,
like, Prada here, haha! I also won an alpaca. My sister collects these stuffed animal alpacas, but
I'm starting to steal her collection. So far I just have two big ones,
named Patty and Little Miss Sugar Cakes. Alpacas tie along with bunnies for
my favourite animal. I was sad to go, but happy that I got to learn more, speak a little
japanese myself, and experience things I didn't get to last time. I was
only there for a week, but I know just enough to get me excited to see all
the things for myself I didn't have time to see.
As soon as I finish my senior year, I'll be one step closer to acheiving my
dream! <3

NEW B.R.I.D.G.E.S. Mentors 2013-2014 School year

Please congratulate these students on being selected as Bridges mentors for next year!

Bridges Mentors 2013-2014

Allen Bailey

Biddinger Chantel

Brush Kerry

Campbell Brennan

Carpenter Destiny

Cates Cody

Cavanaugh Morgan

Compton Mckenzie

Crawford Makayla

Dame Madison

Decker Alex

Dickinson Mackenzie

Dismang McKenzie

Finley Alyssia

Fowler Jordan

Fries Frederick

Gallaher Adriana

Gillenwater Reno

Goans Hannah

Haefner Jeanette

Jackson Arnold TJ

Jutras Tesha

Kimbrell Nicole

Landon Hayden

Landon Kassidy

LaVal Bryce

Lawson Mitchell

Luttrell Dustin

Lyman Michaila

Madde Jessica

Mayfield Ashley

McBride Sydney

McCann Darrel Houston

Miller Trevor

Murphy Alyssa

Patel Shivani

Poston Shane

Preston Katryna

Tudor Shannon

Wilson Regan

All About the Big Orange Vegetable by Kelsey DeVasure

"The pumpkin my boyfriend and I carved"

            Most people have a childhood memory of carving a pumpkin. Whether that is with our parents, friends, or in our kindergarten class is unique to each person. It's just something that has always been done, and it is a Halloween tradition in our area. Though the pumpkins may have become more modern, like lighting your face up with colored glow sticks instead of candles, the idea is still the same.

            When the idea was first created it was in Scotland and Ireland, where they carved turnips. In England they carved beets. These early carvers would place their scary faced creations on their doorstep on “All Hallows Eve” to ward off evil spirits. When the tradition was started in America, thye decided to use the much larger and easier to sculpt pumpkin. Since then it has evolved into our Halloween, and now we do it to have fun with kids.

            Everyone starts out in the same way, you have to cut out the hole so you can get down and dirty. What five year old doesn't want to plunge their hands into the cold and gooey mess of pumpkin guts? Rhetorical question, of course. A pumpkin guts fight can often be the funnest part of your carving process. You have to be sure that you get all the guts out or you may be greeted by a rather interesting smell the next day. The hardest part is picking out the face that you want, do you want it to be happy, scary, sad, or not even a face but rather an artistic picture or design. The things that really creative people can do with this vegetable can be amazing, even doing script letters. But, you must be careful, because one wrong slice could leave your pumpkin permanently disfigured. I believe that this part can get rather nerve wracking. Finally you place your light inside and enjoy it in the cool autumn night.

            Most people know this simplistic process, and if you asked people to share their most creative pumpkin I bet you would be very surprised. Pumpkin carving is far more important than warding off evil spirits though, in modern times it is spending time with a small child, friend, family member, or whoever! 

My Summer by Luis Romero

I had a lot of fun over my summer.

To start of my summer I went to Georgia.When we got there it brought back a lot of memories.It was the first time I had been to Georgia in about two years.We went to my aunt's house were we stayed for two nights then brought back my grandma and my little brother and little sister. Before I left I went to go buy Nike Cortez. When we finally got back my sister helped us unload the car.We talked about what happened down in Georgia.We had a very long talk.

A month later it was my sisters graduation. Both of my sisters came down for graduation and i got to see my niece and two nephews. When graduation day came we were all ready we all got dressed up to go.  When the moment came for my sister to get on stage to graduate we weren't ready to yell so when she did pass it was late but we still congratulated her. After that my little sister kept yelling for every person that passed after her. Everyone was staring but she didn't stop. After graduation was over we went back home and celebrated.We stayed up till 5:00A.M. having fun and talking. The next day both of my sisters went back home. 

So I guess you can say I had a pretty epic summer.

This Summer by Morgan Andersen

Me and the Guys from OU

     This summer was pretty fun. We drove through many different states. I went to South Dakota and Oklahoma. 
     On the way to South Dakota we passed through Nebraska and others. On the trip to South Dakota we visited Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower in Wyoming, Custer State Park, Crazy Horse Memorial, and something called Alpine Sides. 
     At Mt. Rushmore I learned a lot about the history of the mountain and stuff. I learned about it at a place called the Borglum memorial store, we walked through this building full of cool stuff with headphones on. The store had a recording of a tour guide, that would be why we wore headphones. It took sixteen hours to get to South Dakota. The hotel was pretty nice. 
     Also during the summer I woke up early. Everyday! Just to go to basketball, weights, and conditioning. It was fun sometimes, sometimes it was just a pain. But I made sure that when things got hard I kept going. 
     My basketball team and I went to Oklahoma on a trip. We stayed overnight for four nights on the OU campus. It was so tiring! By the end of the week I felt as if I was about to die. I made some new friends, including a lot of seniors. 
     Every night we would go to Kelsey's room and have "group talk" just because we could. At this team camp we played against other teams from all around the USA. It definitely benefited me well, I played JV the whole time and I feel like I got a lot better! A bunch of people were so tired and warned out that they started vomiting! Yum. I did not vomit. I was proud. The showers at in the dorms were very interesting! We stayed in the freshman dorms, the water pressure was horrible, and we had suite mates so four people trying to take a shower was complicated. 
     That is a little bit about my summer of 2012.

Freshman Year by Rhiannon Fuhrer

            Freshman year so far, for me, has been complicated. There is so much to learn. It's hard to keep up with things this year. To be honest I didn't expect for this year to be this hard. I thought it would be like all my other years, simple and got through them easily. Instead, this year has been my hardest. There's a lot that I don't understand and much to keep up with. 

Emily, Patricia and I

            I thought I was seriously going to cry. I have never gotten a "C" or below in any of my classes in the past, but I got some C's on a few of my assignments this year. I'm so stressed out, trying to get things figured out and accomplished. I try keeping things together and organized. I have to work really hard to succeed to my fullest this year.

           There's good things about this year too. For instance, friends. I'm glad I get to see most of my friends, even some that I didn't get to see last year very much. I'm really glad that I have classes and lunch with some of them. I've been friends with most of them since 4th grade. I'm so glad we've all stuck together. Well anyways, i'm really happy that I have them this year. Next to good grades, my friends are very important to me. They are a big part of making this year good. If I didn't have them, then I do not know how I could ever survive this year. 

            I'm going to be trying my hardest to accomplish and succeed all of my goals through out this school year. 

Fummer Vacation by Nash Praznik

Me Drinking Pipe Water

The summer of 2012 was rather uneventful for me.

The one thing fun I do have to write about is my trip to Michigan. My family goes to Michigan every fourth of July to my grandparent's house to visit all our family up there. Its always really fun to go because my family is always a joy to be around. The trip there we decided to drive during the wee hours of the night. My brother drove all night while I stayed up to keep him company.

There was a rather exciting thing that happened at about 2 in the morning on the interstate. We were driving along and all of the sudden we saw headlights coming at us on a one way highway. We almost had a head on collision with the I assume to be drunk driver coming at us at 70mph but he swerved at the very last second and we didn't get hit. My brother and I also got to see the sunrise as we were driving as you can see in the picture it was quite spectacular.

The Sunrise

The next event that I have to tell you is our trip to Autrain Falls while we were in Michigan. This place is pretty great its a river that has a bunch of drop off cliffs as it flows causing a lot of miniature waterfalls.

The picture you see there is me at just the right angle so it looks as though I'm drinking the water that is flowing out of the pipe pretty awesome I know. Other than that my summer was pretty boring, I hope you enjoy this wonderful tale of my summer vacation.