Excluded Stories

One of the ways the Dream Teamers feel they will make an IMPACT on lives is if they Include the Excluded. No one or nothing (like invertebrates) likes to be excluded, underappreciated, overlooked, or left out. The following are a few stories that Dream Teamers wrote about a time when they were excluded.

Excluded by a Friend

by Devin H.

Everyone has been excluded. I would know, it happened to me last year.

I had just turned ten a month before. Andrew and I were talking about football then Zach came in and changed the subject and started talking to Andrew. I tapped Andrew...nothing. I tapped Andrew again...no answer. I started to talk and say, "Andrew, hey Andrew! Andrew!" He turned around and said, "Be quiet. And do us and yourself a favor and leave!!!"

I walked away. Rage and sadness stormed through my body. I thought, "Well, it's just those two. I will go and play tennis with my dad." My day and I went to the tennis courts. We had a blast! I served the ball....it was out. "Fault," yelled my dad. I hit it again. It was in. But right then Andrew came back and wanted to play tennis with us. My dad gave him the racket and we strated to play. If you don't know htis, Andrew is not a tennis player. He can't hit a tennis ball even if his life depended on it. We started to play and I was up to serve. I would usually go easy on Andrew but I was so mad I showed no mercy! I hit a fury serve. It was right in the box. The only problem for Andrew was it hit him right in the face. He and my dad started to yell in my face. I felt so sad I walked home alone. I learned that instead of letting the moment I got yelled at hang over me and make me even sadder that I should just let it go and move on with life. This was a time I got excluded.

Excluded at Recess

by Jessica T.

I remember a time when I felt excluded. It wasn't too long ago. It happened in the beginning of the 5th grade school year.

It started at recess. I wanted to play and make some friends. I'm not going to mention any names. I went up to these two girls and was about to ask them if they wanted to play but they were talking and I didn't want to interrupt. So I kept walking with them to ld finish their conversation so I could ask them if they could plan with me. Finally they stopped waling and talking so I thought, "This is my chance."

Just when I was about to speak, the two girls said, "Stop following us, Jessica." I was crushed. But later in the year I found some new friends and I wil lnever exclude people like how the two girls excluded me.

Excluded

By Riley D.

Nobody likes to be excluded. But everyone has. Even I have been excluded. I hope no one ever feels this way...

Back in Lexington, there was group of girls, Emily, Ally, and Kaylie. One day in the lunch roon, we were all sitting next to each other, then Emily said the big news, "My mom said that I could have a sleepover next week and it will be great!"

I started to get excited - very excited. "And we will have cake, cookes...and all kinds of games," she said. "I thought of all the things we could do: play house tag, movie freak, and secret cell spy!"

Wait, secret cell spies? What was that? I asked Emily, "What is the game secret cell spy?" She responded, "That's a game where you use YOUR cell phone to find out clues to where an item is hiding. But you have to a cell phone to come to the sleep over."

I thought, "Well, I do not have a cell phone. Can I still go?" So I asked, "Can I still come. I don't have a cell phone?"

She said, "Ahh, No! If you don't have a cell phone, you cannot come!"

I wanted to punch her in the face, but I walked away. Now I felt mad and excluded. I was mad because I couldn't see why they had a cell phone and I didn't. I mean, we were 9 and in the 3rd grade so why didn't I have one?

Well, now (2 years later), I have a cell phone. I will never do that to someone because now I know how they would feel.

An Important Legislation

by Rujul s.

Laws are an essential part of our government. We require laws in order to efficiently run a country. Our class is trying to make an invertebrate a national symbol. Rachel Jacobs, one of the assistants of the well known representative Geoff Davis came to our classroom to assist us to do it.

Government and the general welfare of the people all rest around laws. Laws bring order to the state. Laws enable an effective government which is powerful enough to control its people. For the same reason laws have to go through rigorous tests to prove efficient. If the wrong law is passed the community ceases to exist. We believe that our bill is effective enough to be passed. Our bill is to make an invertebrate a national symbol. That is where Ms.Jacobs came in.


As she came in, you could observe that all the members in our class were brimming with excitement. We all were anxious and needed all the help that we could get. She started off by telling us about the Senate and the House of Representatives. “To pass a bill you first need a senator or representative to propose it” she quoted. She assumed that Geoff Davis might be able to help if it is a bill worth proposing.


Next she explained the steps to enforcing a bill after it has already been introduced into Congress. She explained that the bill next goes to the committee. The committee studies the bill and it either dies or goes to distribution. Many laws die in this part of the process. This is the most crucial point that a bill has to be accepted.” If the bill cannot get past the committee it will die”, she said. After it is distributed she told us that it goes to the calendar. The calendar is a waiting list for bills to be voted on.

The bill then goes to voting in either the House or the Senate. A majority is needed or the bill will die. One student asked, “What happens next?” She told us “It (the bill) goes to the Senate if it was voted in the House and it goes to the House if it started in the Senate.” If the bill is approved it goes to the president for signing. If it is not the House and the Senate will keep making amendments until it is accepted”. If the president signs it we will have a new bill. If he vetoes it (does not sign) it has to be voted on and if two thirds of the vote in Congress say yes it is passed without the president’s signing. If the vote is less than two thirds the bill dies.



Finally she had us play an exciting game. We all nominated an invertebrate and debated. One student alleged, “The butterfly should be the national symbol because it is beautiful”. Another disagreed. We finally voted and the worm won. As Ms.Jacobs left we thanked her. We were all awestruck with all the complicated steps to passing bills. From all the bills through all the years we are presenting one that is unique, one that will alter history forever.

Dr. Lorenz Visit

A Thomas More College professor and ichthyologist, Dr. Christopher Lorenz came into Mr. Guenther’s 5th grade class to teach us about the qualities, benefits and characteristics of invertebrates. Our friend, Emma, got her dad to talk to Dr. Lorenz and ask him to come to our class. When Emma’s dad talked to Dr. Lorenz, talked about the Invertebrate Games, and how we need to know about them in order to train them, and to get one as a national symbol, Dr. Lorenz said he would be delighted to come in and teach us about invertebrates.

When he came in, he told us some interesting facts, like. . .
1. The giant squid is the biggest invertebrates in the world and we have only seen one living, just 5 years ago.
2. Invertebrates are 95% of the world population, over 6 billion!
3. Invertebrates are found everywhere on the planet.
4. We rely on them, but they don’t rely on us.
5. A blue ringed octopus is the most venomous invertebrate in the world.
6. The simplest invertebrate in the world is a sea sponge.

Now aren’t those interesting? It’s not just me who thinks the visit was fun. Andi said, “I thought it was very interesting.” Dee said, “ It was very fun and I learned a lot.”

Questions? Comments? Contact Mr. Guenther’s room in 303

The Professor and Invertebrates

by Katelyn M.

Have you ever heard of invertebrates? Invertebrates are animals without any bones in their bodies. They are very important to our world. Without them, we couldn’t live. Professor Christopher Lorenz, who is an ichthyologist, a person who studies fish, from Thomas More College, came in to Mr. Guenther’s fifth grade class at North Pointe Elementary to tell us about them.

Professor Lorenz told us about some of the qualities of invertebrates. “Invertebrates are modest, humble, inventive, unselfish and hardworking,” he said. “They are self-reliant, steady, and industrious. But they aren’t appreciated as much as they should be.” Professor Lorenz studies invertebrates, and has learned that they have saved the US economy over $60 billion!

Professor Lorenz says that invertebrates help us immensely. “Vertebrates couldn’t survive without invertebrates,” he explained. “Some invertebrates decompose garbage to make the Earth healthier, and dung beetles bury dung so that parasites, flies and pests are prevented from breeding there. Flies bother us, and dung beetles help lower the amount of them.” Professor Lorenz is very educated on the subject of invertebrates.

There are many benefits of invertebrates. Fish and eagles eat invertebrates, and some people love seafood. Fish is a popular dish to devour, and if the invertebrates aren’t around for the fish to ingest, there won’t be any fish for humans to eat.

Many students in the class learned lots of information from Professor Lorenz. “The speech that he gave was very informative,” says Laura L., who was present at the time of Professor Lorenz’s visit. “It was awesome and gave us information we didn’t know about before he came,” says Devin Heffernan, who attended the lecture. “I liked it,” comments Dee G.. “The discussion was well-said,” adds Ashay S. “Very cool,” says Hannah L. “I learned tons of information.” Andi D remarks, “I found it extremely interesting.” All of these students were present at the visit.

There are more invertebrates than vertebrates. And, invertebrates live everywhere. They all have different lifestyles. Invertebrates built the Great Barrier Reef, which is over 1 thousand miles long! There are many different kinds of invertebrates, and they are diverse, which means very distinct from one another.

Invertebrates are very important, and we couldn’t live without them. Please be kind to invertebrates, as they have been kind to us.

I-Games 2010 Logo Determined

By Emma R.

One fall morning when the students of Mr.Guenther’s class came in the classroom they saw a t-shirt on the board. One the shirt was a picture of an ant holding a torch. In the background was the skyline. Two-thousand sixteen read the bottom. Kids questioned what are we going to do with it and when?

Later on in the day Mr.Guenther told the class that there would be a logo contest! The kids of the class could submit logos then the class would vote. The class was very excited 15 out of 24 students tried to win, but only 3 made it to the finals. The finalist where Hannah R., Olivia T., and Ryan N.

Once more it was voting time. This time the winner got the pride of having their t-shirt displayed at the Invertebrate Games, and another free t-shirt. When everyone was done voting the winner came out to be Ryan N.! Ryan was very happy.

The logo will be used at the Invertebrate Games, held at North Pointe Elementary in Spring 2010. To learn more information go to www.invertebrategames.com. Be there (I-Games 2010) to see Ryan’s t-shirt!

A Logo Without a Backbone

by Megan T.

On Friday September fourth, 2009, my teacher Mr. Guenther announced that we were going to have a competition to see what the logo would be for the games that we are putting on. The games are called the Invertebrate Games.

The Invertebrate Games are like the Olympics except with invertebrates of course! One of the students says that they want to have the Invertebrate Games because they want to get invertebrates a positive reputation so they can go to Washington D.C. and attempt to make an invertebrate a national symbol.

Mr. Guenther said that two kids with the names of Megan and Ashay were to make a logo since they were done with their tests early. Megan made a logo where the ant is playing for the reds against the butterflies. Since the Igames would be taking place near Cincinnati. And Ashay made one where the ant was playing for the Bengals, for the same reason as Megan.

Later that day Mr. Guenther said that everyone else would be make o ne for home work that was due that next Friday. The assignment was not mandatory.

On September 11th there were a total of 15 different logos, the finalists were Ryan N., Olivia T., and Hannah R. and all of their logos were exciting and interesting. Ryan’s had a worm and an ant racing at the Igames. Olivia’s had a bee playing basketball on the front then an ant surrounded by smaller ants on the back. And Hannah’s logo had an ant with invertebrate games souvenirs, with food and drinks ready for the games to begin.

My guess is that the finalists were very thrilled but just to make sure I asked for their input. Hannah said she wa “happy and that she hopes that she wins!" She was also "surprised and honored that the class picked her logo.” When I asked her how she felt when she was chosen, and with the same question Olivia said, “I feel good to be a finalist of all the good logos and I am hopeful that I win.” And Ryan said, “I was a little happy.”

Later that afternoon, Mr. Guenther told us the winner that would have created our official logo and the winner of an invertebrate games t-shirt. The winner was……. Ryan! I bet that turned his a little happy to a lot a happy. Oh no look at the time I’m late for the invertebrate games. I gotta buzz off. Hope to catch you at the invertebrate games!!!