The Incredible Tenacity of a City of Angels Student

"Tenacity" means sticking to a goal no matter what is in your way. It's a noun. The verb form is "tenacious." Allow me to introduce you to one tenacious young man.

City of Angels student Adrian Pineda has an aggressive form of cancer, but he never stopped wanting to get his high school diploma. He never stopped studying, he never let his illness be an excuse.

He achieved his goal, and will graduate in a special ceremony this Saturday. I know you will join me in congratulating Adrian, and wishing him great happiness on his special day. His tenacity and positive outlook are just completely inspiring!

Click here to see his adventures on Thursday. Adrian's Helicopter Trip

Here's Adrian with his sister and some inspired LASPD Officers who helped coordinate his ride along:

"Ancient Kingdom Temple"

That was the astute observation of one of you in the "Summarizing, Evaluating, Taking a Position on Art" class we had this morning.

But what was it we were looking at?

Take a look:

The image we were viewing was against a white background, which made it difficult to guess the size. We didn't look at the title or other information on purpose, preferring instead to get all our information from direct observation of the primary source: the work of art itself.

After writing about it and discussing it in groups, you came up with the following phrases to summarize your experience of the art:

"Gold Gingerbread Kingdom, aka: Jesus"

"A Middle Aged* Detailed Temple Used for Sacrifices."

and

"Ancient Monarchs" 

Wow! 

Now the mystery can be revealed. The name of the art is called "The Shrine of the Three Kings," and it dates back to around 1180 a.d., according to some sources. It is actually a sarcophagus that reputedly holds the bones of the Three Kings - the Magi -  from the bible. It took around 40 years to build, then they built a cathedral in Cologne, Germany to hold it. The cathedral took over 600 years to build. Wow, again.

Here's a photo of it with someone running a vacuum, so you can get a sense of how large it is:

After we shared out in groups, then some of you wrote your further summary of the summary. Here is what you said:

"Ancient Detailed Kingdom"

"Jesus, Middle Aged Temple, Monarch"

"Gold Middle Aged Monarchs"

"A Middle Aged, Golden Temple Monarch"

"Jesus Temple Monarchs"

"Gingerbread Temple for Monarchs"

"Middle Aged Kingdom Religion"

"Monarch's Gold Temple"

By just carefully looking at - reading!- this art, you figured out the essence of what it is. You are brilliant indeed!

:^) Ms. H

*A word about the term "Middle Aged"--I know you all mean: from the time of the Middle Ages - and you were exactly right. However, when we say "middle aged" in the year 2013, it is used to describe someone who is older---someone, say, MY AGE. A better adjective would be "medieval," which means, from the time of the Middle Ages. (I will not appreciate it if you refer to me as being medieval. I'm not THAT old.)  

                                                                              

Nelson Mandela 1918-2013

When I learned about South Africa's apartheid when I was in college in the 1980s, I was pretty shocked. I read more and more about it and learned about Nelson Mandela who was leading the efforts to end apartheid from his prison cell.

Like students around the country at that time, we decided to pressure our school, Mills College, to pull its investment money out of firms doing business in South Africa until they ended apartheid. We also tried not to buy products of companies that invested in South Africa. It was a kind of boycott. Lots of people said that boycotts wouldn't work, but in 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from jail, and apartheid crumbled. He became South Africa's first black president in 1993.

He will always be inspirational to me because he worked selflessly to improve the lives of others. He also did not seek to punish those who had mistreated him and so many others.  Instead he started an extraordinary process of "truth and reconciliation." People who had been victims and perpetrators got in the same room, spoke the truth about what happened, and listened to each other. This was very healing for many and they were all able to move forward together.

He said, "Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how how many times I fell down and got back up again."

He also said, "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."

Rest in Peace, Nelson Mandela

Pythagoras Day!

This one's for you, David, and all the Smarticuses who were thinking about how "perpendicular" is related to the Pythagorean Theorem today. What's the date? 12/5/13, and what's interesting about those numbers? Check out this article on New York's Flat Iron Building and then link through to the Museum of Math!

How to Join BookAdventure.com

Greetings, Readers!

Here is a link to BookAdventure.com. If you go here and join, you can also join a class of mine. In the profile section where it says teacher name, type in Hickman. Where it says class, join the class of your grade level, i. e., Hickman's 6th, Hickman's 7th, or Hickman's 8th. Who will be the first to pass a quiz on a book you have read? What sorts of books would you like me to acquire? Divergent series? Mysteries? Historical fiction? Tell me when you come to class!