Dear Class of 2007,
Wow its been four years. Remember freshmen year all crowded around the lunch tables. I was so afraid of high school back then. I was so sure i was going to hate school. By sophomore year i was more comfortable with myself and i enjoyed my self more. Junior and Seniors year were a lot of fun as well. But as I'm looking back I wondering. What if i did things differently? Hung out with different people, was involved in other actives. What would have happened? In the last weeks of school I saw different sides of people that i have misjudged earlier in our high school career. For all of you that i did that to i apologize. I hope you will forgive me. Finally I want thank you for a four years of high school.
Love
Beth Hunter
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Europe Trip
DAY 1 Monday, June 18 Overnight Flight
- Departure from the United States.
DAY 2 Tuesday, June 19 London
- Arrival in London. Take time today to familiarize yourself with this wonderful city and maybe check out one of their many parks. Dinner.
DAY 3 Wednesday, June 20 London
- A local guide shows you St. Paul's Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard, if availabe. The afternoon is free to visit the Tower of London if you please. Dinner.
DAY 4 Thursday, June 21 Caen
- Visit mysterious pre-historic Stonehenge, then continue to Salisbury, to see the tallest Gothic spire in England. It's a short drive to the seaside town of Portsmouth, where you board the ferry to France porterage included. After dinner aboard the ferry, drive to Caen for a night's rest.
DAY 5 Friday, June 22 Loire Valley
- This morning, experience the D-Day Beaches, then continue to the awe-inspiring island monastery of Mont St. Michel. This medieval abbey and village perches precariously atop a rocky island, surrounded by sandy flats at low tide and by the sea at high tide. Continue to the Loire Valley for dinner.
DAY 6 Saturday, June 23 Paris
- Today, visit some of the most impressive castles in the Loire. Your first stop is Chenonceau, a jewel of Renaissance architechture. Next drive to impressive Chambord, the giant hunting lodge of Francois I. Continue to Chartes to view the magnificent cathedral and its stained glass windows. Arrive in Paris for dinner.
DAY 7 Sunday, June 24 Paris
- Morning service at the American Church with bus transfers included. In the afternoon, see Louis XIV's palace at Versailles. Return to Paris for dinner. (meal vouchers will be preovided for dinner tonight). Evening services with metro transfers.
DAY 8 Monday, June 25 Overnight Train
- A local guide shows the city's most famous monuments - from the Notre Dame Cathedral to the Arc de Triumphe. This afternoon use your ACIS Walking Tour to discover the beautiful Louvre. Transfer to the station to board the overnight train to Munich, couchettes provided.
DAY 9 Tuesday, June 26 Munich
- Arrival in Munich. Breakfast, followed by sightseeing, which shows you Nymphenburg Palace, the summer home of Bavaria's Wittelsbach kings. Walk through old Munich to the Glockensspiel. Reflect on World War II this afternoon at the Dachau memorial.
DAY 10 Wednesday, June 27 Munich
- Full day excursion to Salzburg for sightseeing with a local guide including a ride up the Hohensalzburg funicular and a visit to Mozart's Birthplace. Lunch. Afternoon visit to Hallein Salt Mines (time permitting). Return to Munich for the overnight. Note: Lunch instead of dinner included.
DAY 11 Thursday, June 28 Munich
- Today's excursion takes you to Ludwig II's fairyland castle of Neuschwanstein and Oberammergau, where the famous Passion Play is performed once every decade.
DAY 12 Friday, June 29 Departure
- Transfer to the airport for return flight to the United States.
- Departure from the United States.
DAY 2 Tuesday, June 19 London
- Arrival in London. Take time today to familiarize yourself with this wonderful city and maybe check out one of their many parks. Dinner.
DAY 3 Wednesday, June 20 London
- A local guide shows you St. Paul's Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guard, if availabe. The afternoon is free to visit the Tower of London if you please. Dinner.
DAY 4 Thursday, June 21 Caen
- Visit mysterious pre-historic Stonehenge, then continue to Salisbury, to see the tallest Gothic spire in England. It's a short drive to the seaside town of Portsmouth, where you board the ferry to France porterage included. After dinner aboard the ferry, drive to Caen for a night's rest.
DAY 5 Friday, June 22 Loire Valley
- This morning, experience the D-Day Beaches, then continue to the awe-inspiring island monastery of Mont St. Michel. This medieval abbey and village perches precariously atop a rocky island, surrounded by sandy flats at low tide and by the sea at high tide. Continue to the Loire Valley for dinner.
DAY 6 Saturday, June 23 Paris
- Today, visit some of the most impressive castles in the Loire. Your first stop is Chenonceau, a jewel of Renaissance architechture. Next drive to impressive Chambord, the giant hunting lodge of Francois I. Continue to Chartes to view the magnificent cathedral and its stained glass windows. Arrive in Paris for dinner.
DAY 7 Sunday, June 24 Paris
- Morning service at the American Church with bus transfers included. In the afternoon, see Louis XIV's palace at Versailles. Return to Paris for dinner. (meal vouchers will be preovided for dinner tonight). Evening services with metro transfers.
DAY 8 Monday, June 25 Overnight Train
- A local guide shows the city's most famous monuments - from the Notre Dame Cathedral to the Arc de Triumphe. This afternoon use your ACIS Walking Tour to discover the beautiful Louvre. Transfer to the station to board the overnight train to Munich, couchettes provided.
DAY 9 Tuesday, June 26 Munich
- Arrival in Munich. Breakfast, followed by sightseeing, which shows you Nymphenburg Palace, the summer home of Bavaria's Wittelsbach kings. Walk through old Munich to the Glockensspiel. Reflect on World War II this afternoon at the Dachau memorial.
DAY 10 Wednesday, June 27 Munich
- Full day excursion to Salzburg for sightseeing with a local guide including a ride up the Hohensalzburg funicular and a visit to Mozart's Birthplace. Lunch. Afternoon visit to Hallein Salt Mines (time permitting). Return to Munich for the overnight. Note: Lunch instead of dinner included.
DAY 11 Thursday, June 28 Munich
- Today's excursion takes you to Ludwig II's fairyland castle of Neuschwanstein and Oberammergau, where the famous Passion Play is performed once every decade.
DAY 12 Friday, June 29 Departure
- Transfer to the airport for return flight to the United States.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
American Puzzle
Like a puzzle America is made up of many different pieces. Each piece is as important as the piece next to it, no matter what the size. Each different piece makes America unique, and each makes America a whole. Each of us need to find our own special piece in the American puzzle. Just as a puzzle is not complete without every piece, neither is America without every person.
In the year 1776, the American puzzle was just beginning to take shape. Fifty-six patriots, ranging in age from thirty to seventy, came together to build our nation. Each of them had a different background, but all had one purpose to build the United States of America. Their Purpose is clearly stated in the Constitution. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." The Framers’ pieces laid out the border of our American Puzzle.
In 1804, a group of daring explorers left St. Louis, MO for a trip into the unknown. Lewis and Clark began to fill in the northwestern border of the American Puzzle. They gave the American people a reason to become pieces of the puzzle. The explorers came back from their adventures with stories to tell and wetted the American sense of adventure.
Only forty years later, the American people started to fill in the southwestern part of puzzle. They packed up all they owned and started on their own new adventure. They crossed our country on the Oregon Trail seeing new sights and settling new places. The American Puzzle was starting to take shape.
In the year 1861 the American Puzzle was tested. Did we really have all the pieces in the right places? The American Civil War broke out. After the deaths of 620,000 of our men and boys and of our beloved President Abraham Lincoln, the American Puzzle stood the test of war and time. Our nation was complete again. As a major piece of our puzzle Lincoln did many things—He issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves. He gave the Gettysburg Address to our nation at a time that we were greatly divided. In his speech Lincoln states, "That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth."
On August 3, 1914, another Great War broke out; not on our soil but this war would also involve us. On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and we entered World War I. The men and women that fought over there brought the world to the realization that America was a fighting force and that we were here to stay. America’s presence also told the world that the American people fought for democracy and that we wanted to share our freedoms with the rest of the world.
In the roaring twenties, American women won a great freedom: the right to vote. If they could work and help over seas, why should not they also have a voice in our American Puzzle? This struggle started long before in 1800’s. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton Cady formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1896. Over the years many protests and pickets took place for the cause of women suffrage. Finally in 1920 on August 26 the 19th Amendment was signed into law giving women the right to vote. This alteration in the puzzle allowed for more choice and more changes in the upcoming century.
In the year 1929, the American Puzzle withstood another test to see if all the puzzle pieces were in the correct place. The Great Depression tested our perseverance. During this trial, the American people had to come together and help each other through the tough times. They lived on the motto "Fix it up; wear it out, make it do or do with out. Could we live like that today?
Ten years after the Great Despression started, another war broke out in the world—World War II. Soon the United States joined the war campaign when our own country was attacked by Japan. In his address to Congress, the need for resistance to the Japanese forces was clearly stated. President Franklin Roosevelt said, "Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan….Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God." We began the war by fighting the Japanese and soon joined the Allied war effort in Europe. We overcame the Axis foes on August 3, 1945, and soon the world was at peace again.
At home, all was not well. There were pieces of our puzzle not in place yet and they so wanted to be a part of our nation. Our puzzle was also colorless; we needed color added. Those pieces were the African American people. The Civil Rights Movement started on December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. The Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. In his speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom he said, "I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." In the 1960’s the public schools became integrated. And the African Americans have had a large part in our puzzle ever since.
Also in the decades of the 50’s and 60’s our country was at war. Our husbands and sons were once again separated from us in a war that seemed never to end. How bravely they fought in Korea and Vietnam protecting the world from the spread of communism. Our puzzle time and time again had proved itself that it would remain whole. This war must have been another sign to the other nations that the United States of America was here to stay and would stand up for democracy at home and away.
On September 11, 2001 our freedoms were attacked again this time on our own soil. The World Trade Center was destroyed by radical Islamist extremists. Thousands of lives and pieces of the puzzle were lost that day. Hundreds more have been lost during the War on Terror. President Bush in his address to the nation reminded us about the strength of our nation joining together. He said "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." But we keep on fighting. We will always fight for our American Values for if we stop all the progress on our puzzle will cease.
Now we are up to the present day. The American Puzzle will never be completely finished. It will always be changing. What is your part in the American puzzle? Are you the piece that will go over and fight the war in Iraq or in a war that has not begun yet? Or are you the piece that will stay at home and support those overseas protecting our freedoms? Maybe you are the piece that will be the next person to represent the American people in Washington. Whatever piece of the puzzle you are you are important and America will never be the same with out you. So go out and do your part and one by one more puzzle pieces will come together.
In the year 1776, the American puzzle was just beginning to take shape. Fifty-six patriots, ranging in age from thirty to seventy, came together to build our nation. Each of them had a different background, but all had one purpose to build the United States of America. Their Purpose is clearly stated in the Constitution. "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." The Framers’ pieces laid out the border of our American Puzzle.
In 1804, a group of daring explorers left St. Louis, MO for a trip into the unknown. Lewis and Clark began to fill in the northwestern border of the American Puzzle. They gave the American people a reason to become pieces of the puzzle. The explorers came back from their adventures with stories to tell and wetted the American sense of adventure.
Only forty years later, the American people started to fill in the southwestern part of puzzle. They packed up all they owned and started on their own new adventure. They crossed our country on the Oregon Trail seeing new sights and settling new places. The American Puzzle was starting to take shape.
In the year 1861 the American Puzzle was tested. Did we really have all the pieces in the right places? The American Civil War broke out. After the deaths of 620,000 of our men and boys and of our beloved President Abraham Lincoln, the American Puzzle stood the test of war and time. Our nation was complete again. As a major piece of our puzzle Lincoln did many things—He issued the Emancipation Proclamation freeing the slaves. He gave the Gettysburg Address to our nation at a time that we were greatly divided. In his speech Lincoln states, "That we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth."
On August 3, 1914, another Great War broke out; not on our soil but this war would also involve us. On April 6, 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and we entered World War I. The men and women that fought over there brought the world to the realization that America was a fighting force and that we were here to stay. America’s presence also told the world that the American people fought for democracy and that we wanted to share our freedoms with the rest of the world.
In the roaring twenties, American women won a great freedom: the right to vote. If they could work and help over seas, why should not they also have a voice in our American Puzzle? This struggle started long before in 1800’s. Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton Cady formed the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1896. Over the years many protests and pickets took place for the cause of women suffrage. Finally in 1920 on August 26 the 19th Amendment was signed into law giving women the right to vote. This alteration in the puzzle allowed for more choice and more changes in the upcoming century.
In the year 1929, the American Puzzle withstood another test to see if all the puzzle pieces were in the correct place. The Great Depression tested our perseverance. During this trial, the American people had to come together and help each other through the tough times. They lived on the motto "Fix it up; wear it out, make it do or do with out. Could we live like that today?
Ten years after the Great Despression started, another war broke out in the world—World War II. Soon the United States joined the war campaign when our own country was attacked by Japan. In his address to Congress, the need for resistance to the Japanese forces was clearly stated. President Franklin Roosevelt said, "Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan….Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God." We began the war by fighting the Japanese and soon joined the Allied war effort in Europe. We overcame the Axis foes on August 3, 1945, and soon the world was at peace again.
At home, all was not well. There were pieces of our puzzle not in place yet and they so wanted to be a part of our nation. Our puzzle was also colorless; we needed color added. Those pieces were the African American people. The Civil Rights Movement started on December 1, 1955 when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. The Civil Rights Movement leader Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. In his speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom he said, "I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers." In the 1960’s the public schools became integrated. And the African Americans have had a large part in our puzzle ever since.
Also in the decades of the 50’s and 60’s our country was at war. Our husbands and sons were once again separated from us in a war that seemed never to end. How bravely they fought in Korea and Vietnam protecting the world from the spread of communism. Our puzzle time and time again had proved itself that it would remain whole. This war must have been another sign to the other nations that the United States of America was here to stay and would stand up for democracy at home and away.
On September 11, 2001 our freedoms were attacked again this time on our own soil. The World Trade Center was destroyed by radical Islamist extremists. Thousands of lives and pieces of the puzzle were lost that day. Hundreds more have been lost during the War on Terror. President Bush in his address to the nation reminded us about the strength of our nation joining together. He said "Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve." But we keep on fighting. We will always fight for our American Values for if we stop all the progress on our puzzle will cease.
Now we are up to the present day. The American Puzzle will never be completely finished. It will always be changing. What is your part in the American puzzle? Are you the piece that will go over and fight the war in Iraq or in a war that has not begun yet? Or are you the piece that will stay at home and support those overseas protecting our freedoms? Maybe you are the piece that will be the next person to represent the American people in Washington. Whatever piece of the puzzle you are you are important and America will never be the same with out you. So go out and do your part and one by one more puzzle pieces will come together.
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