September 24, 2000
Here are the essays of three students. The subject was "My Vacation":

My Vacation by Barnabas Drew

For my vacation I had to go to a play club every day except Saturday and Sunday cos my mum is working. I went there last year as well so I was hoping that some of the friends I made would be there again. The first day I was a bit scared meeting everyone again but once I was there for a few days I was really enjoying it. The friends I played with most were ronald , david , sean, paul , micheal and ivan. if it was sunny we usually played things like hide and seek , where someone would count to 100 and we would all run and do a big dive into the long grass , or chasie where we would run all morning , or football or rounders.Inside we could play the computer draw or play board games . Sometimes we were running about inside shouting and wrestleing and then the lady in charge would start shouting at us which was quite scarey and I didn’t know where to look and then we would look at each other and make faces at each other when she wasn’t looking . She was usually nice except when she was shouting though. One time a couple of bigger boys had these guns that shot sponge bullets and they were going round shooting us in the head , so we would fall down dead and then get up after 20 seconds .Once I got shot in the head then my friend sean got shot and he waved me over so I crawled slowly along the floor on my belly like I could hardly move so I could be dead next to him.Once we went on a big trip to an amazing play park which had walkways up in the sky and climbing frames and a huge slide .It was raining nearly all day but we didn’t care we just ran and ran and ran .I was so sad when the holiday was over cos I wont get to see any of my friends . I hope I can go back next year .

The end

My Vacation by Sean Wilkins

In June, I went down to Colorado Springs and spent a day with a friend of mine. We then went up north to Denver and walked around a bit and ate at subermine shop. We also went swimming at the lake and looked around the street mall enjoying the street performers fest checking out the music stores.

In July, I went to Kansas to see another friend of mine. I got to see Fort Leavenworth which is an army post. We also saw X-Men and Mission Impossible 2. We also checked out some toy and music stores in the local mall. We played arcade games. We also walked through a forest looking at the trees. We also rented a few videos like Spawn, The Crow: City of Angels, and Blade. I really had a great time and I think he did too.

In August, I went back to the old neighborhood and spent some time with my old friends before I moved to Glenwood to attend school there. We played a few games of soccer and went swimming at the community pool. We also got some ice cream at the ice cream store and played some games at the arcade.

The rest of the times I did in-between these things is hang out with my friends from Glenwood school. We went swimming a lot and sometimes just did nothing. We would look at the clouds during the day and stars at night.

Yeah, I would have to say it was a great summer. Something that I will always remember.

My Vacation by Erik Mikkelsen (no character page yet)

During the summer I did not do very much. It was my last year at my old school, so I was sad to say good bye to a lot of my good friends. Right after school was out, I went with my family up our big river to a family reunion where I saw many relatives I didn't know I had. It was neat, and I saw a lot of neat things, like the biggest earth mound north of Mexico and a very big American Indian painting on the cliffs by the river. I am really interested in Native American cultures and history. But it was very rainy, and I became sick, so when we got back home, I couldn't do anything for a few weeks. Later we went to the Sea and I saw dolphins, and they were really interesting to watch, but I was only about 20 feet away from them in the water. They were much bigger than they seemed in pictures, so I was kind of afraid. I kept thinking about the shark attacks we have had nearby, and I didn't stay in very long. My cousin was stung by a jellyfish. Then I said good bye to my best friend, who is going to another school, and tried to start making friends around here. I made a lot of mistakes, I guess, but I have made some really good friends too. All in all I guess it was a great summer after all.

August 23, 2000
The new school choir sings the Glenwood School Song. Written and conducted by Mr. Arnold.

Click here for the music!

The words are:
We're boys of dear old Glenwood School.
We're always so thrilled to learn the golden rule
that life is filled with joys.

And so, our voices raised in song,
we greet each day.
We're cheerful all day long.
To work and play we go.

Then when these days at school are through
we will recall the special boys we knew,
who were our friends just then.

(But --- shhh!--- this is the our version:
We're sick of dreary Glenwood School.
We like to make noise, tell jokes and bend the rules
when Doctor G ain't there.

We say, whenever she walks by,
"Mummies Alive!"
She'd surely make us die
if ever she heard us.

Life's hard when we're at Glenwood School.
We need our friends, 'cause Doctor G's a ghoul.
She'll kill us all we're sure.)