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My (not so) Perfect Life

by Luke Johnson

Chapter 1

Ugh! Amanda is so mean! She thinks she rules the school! She just announced to the class that everyone was invited to her birthday party but me and my two best friends, Jordan and Allison.

Chapter 2 -Me-

Sadie Bargwell, that’s me. I live in Rockford, Illinois and go to Orchard View Elementary. I am a 10 year old fifth grader in Mr. Rockwell’s class. I have a nerdy older sister. She is obsessed with math (she is not going to fit in in high school), unlike me.

Chapter 3 -My Class-

We are electing a class president. “Crybaby” Alexa. “I’m too cool for school Sydney”, John a.k.a. “Mr. Burp”, and Amanda. Future senators, I doubt it. Sadly, they are my competition.

We each had to write a speech. I hate writing speeches. You wanna hear mine? This is it so far:

“Hi! I’m Sadie. I want to be Class President for Mr. Rockwell’s class because I am very responsible and kind. Thank you for your support!”

See what I mean? I’m not so good.

Right now Alexa is reading her speech. It’s not going well. Everyone has a puzzled look on their face and Luke (Sir Falls Asleep Whenever Someone Says at Least Ten Words) already dozed off. We hear a loud belch from the back. We all turn our heads. No surprise. It was John. When Alexa notices no one is paying attention she screams at the class:

“Why don’t you people ever pay attention?!” She shouted at the top of her lungs (that woke Luke up). She starts bawling and stomps out of the room without finishing her speech.

Mr. Rockwell stepped out of the classroom. I’m guessing he gave her a pep talk because when they came back, no one acted like anything had happened. I just sat there waiting for him to call me. My time has arrived. I walk to the front of the room, trembling with fear. I start to read.

Art Show Inspires ‘WritePrize’ Student Writing Contest  

by Charles Honey

It worked big-time for art, so why not writing?

That was the thought of Eldon Palmer, a parent at Valley View Elementary School. Inspired by the huge success of ArtPrize, Palmer last fall proposed a contest called WritePrize at the K-5 school. He worked with teachers and Principal Bob Siegel to organize a writing contest among third- through fifth-graders. The kickoff was held during the release of Siegel’s book “Learn to Lead with Love.”

Nearly 100 students – almost one-third of Valley View’s upper-elementary enrollment – submitted their works. They were judged by the high school students of Jackie Decker’s Advanced Placement language arts class. Throughout the year, the winning papers are being published in the weekly school newsletter.

Five winners were chosen from each grade. Following are the winning entries from fifth-graders Kate Zang, Makayla Jarrett, Luke Johnson, Macey Palmer and Madison Warnke. Happy reading!

Read More Submissions

I finish to applause. Now, it’s voting time.

Chapter 4 -Voting-

The candidates stand in the front of the room to count their votes.

“Who votes for Alexa?” said Mr. Rockwell. No hands raised. You could see tears starting to drip from her eyes.

“John…Sydney…Amanda, and Sadie,” he said. We walked over to his desk to reveal our results. “Well for the first time in years, we have a tie!”

“Who?! Who?! Who?!” my class chants.

“Amanda and Sadie” Mr. Rockwell said.

By now Alexa has tears all across her face.

“Time for a tiebreaker round.” Mr. Rockwell said.

The final showdown. This time Mr. Rockwell counts the votes so we can’t cheat.

It took a minute for Mr. Rockwell to tally up the votes. Alexa started to cry again for who knows what reason. “The new class president for our class is…Sadie Bargwell!”

Chapter 5 -Fights-

Alexa. John. Those two started the fighting. Chaos took over the room. Alexa was crying again. Fights, disagreements, arguments, you name it, we’re doing it. Out of nowhere, Amanda walks up to me and says, “You’ll pay!”

“That was weird,” I told Alli (sometimes we call her that).

“Yeah,” she replied. Jordan is being mean and keeps playing with Amanda, so Alli and I just play without her at recess.
School is over. I ride home with Alli so we can go to basketball practice together.

Chapter 6 -Basketball Practice-

Swish. That was the sound of the basketball going through the basket.

“Nice job Sadie,” my coach said. Basketball practice is my favorite part of the day. Why? Because Jordan and Allison are on my team.

“Alright girls, now we are going to scrimmage,” Coach Josh said. “I’m going to split you into teams. On my team is Jordan, Chloe, Natalie, Alexa, and me. Coach made me point guard. The ring of his whistle signaled Alexa to pass me the ball. She ran to the post. I dribbled down the court. I passed to Natalie, who passed it to Jordan. She scores! We play a bit more, I got to go home with Jordan (p.s. she is my friend again).

Chapter 7 -Sleepover-

We arrive at Jordan’s house. Alli came too! We bolt down the basement stairs and get caught up in conversation. Alli tells us she is going to the Sportsplex Saturday and was wondering if we want to go with her.

“Sure,” I said.

“Um, I…” starts Jordan.

“Great!” interrupted Alli. “It’s all set then.”

We finish talking and watched Mr. Popper’s Penguins (Mr. Rockwell is reading that book to us). Jordan is the first to fall asleep.

Chapter 8 -Moving-

Jordan’s mom woke us up. While waiting for Alli’s mom to pick us up and take us to the gym. Jordan pulled us aside. “Guys, I have to tell you something,” she started. “My mom just got a really great job as a president of a small company in North Carolina so we may have to move.”

Allison and I noticed tears in her eyes. “We’ll figure something out,” I promised.

“When are you moving?” Asked Alli.

“In a couple months.” Jordan said.

“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” I said. “But it’s going to be hard.”

“Well, what is it?” said Allison eagerly.

“We just need to find a better job here in Rockford.” I suggested.

“That’s the best idea I’ve heard in weeks!” Jordan exclaimed. “Let’s start now!”

Chapter 10 -Planning-

We plotted that when we arrived at the gym we’d ask the manager if they have any openings. If so, we would schedule an interview.

My mom picked us up about 4 minutes after we finished planning.

Chapter 11 -Information-

We charged straight to the front desk. They explained they had 2 openings: secretary and basketball trainer. Earlier Jordan told us her mom loves basketball, so we scheduled an interview for Becky Stone for November 21st. That’s eight weeks from when the movers were coming.

Jordan’s mom was so surprised and proud of us when she found out. She said she was perfect with the job and interview time.

We shot around until we had to bring Jordan and Alli home.

Chapter 12 -Smiles-

Jordan’s mom picked me and Alli up. Once we got to the sportsplex we played lightning (my favorite hoops game) and shot baskets while Mrs. Stone interviewed.

About half hour later, Jordan’s mom came out of the office with the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. I hope it meant what I thought it meant.

“I got the job Toots!” She said while squeezing Jordan.

“Mom don’t call me that in public.” Replied Jordan. “But that’s awesome!”

“So does that mean you’re not moving?” Alli and I said at the same time.

“Yes girls,” started Mrs. Stone. “We’re not moving.” She continued, “I’ll call the company back and tell them I changed my mind.”

While she was on the phone Alli, Jordan and I went and got our stuff out of the locker room. “Thank you,” Jordan said,

“For once I’m excited to go to school!”

I smiled. Alli smiled. Jordan smiled. We were all proud.

Chapter 13 -School-

Ring! Ring! Ring!

“Sadie that was the bell,” said Jordan. “Let’s go!” We ran to the door, grabbed our backpacks and walked into the classroom. Alli was sick today, so it was just me and Jordan.

Before lunch, we worked on math, writing, reading, and went to the gym. Me and Jordan sat together at lunch. We sat through the rest of the day with Amanda’s yapping about her birthday.

Chapter 14 -The Switch-

I got off the bus I rushed inside to call Alli and Jordan to see if they could come over.

“My mom will drop us off,” Alli said. “She can pick up Jordan too.”

“Great,” I said. “I’ll see you here!” I hung up and waited for them to get here.

Just then, my mom called me into the kitchen to say “Your friend Amanda is moving tomorrow and her mom wanted the class to know,” she said.

“Oh, O.K.” I replied while secretly I was doing a silent cheer. (Today was supposed to be her birthday party).

“Ding Dong!”

That was the doorbell. I ran to open the door but my mom beat me to it.

“Hi Jordan, Allison,” said my mom.

“Hi Mrs. Bargwell!” They replied. I told them to come to my room. We raced upstairs and I sat at my desk while they sat on my bed.

“Thanks again,” Jordan said. “I’m gladwe are staying in Rockford.”

“Hey, did you guys hear that Amanda’s mom got the job your mom canceled?” I said.

“Yea, that’s like so weird.” Said Alli, imitating Amanda.

“Good one.” Said Jordan. We cracked up laughing until we could barely breathe and my mom told us to quiet down.
We finally controlled our laughing, wrapped up our conversation and started to write our classroom narratives. Halfway through with mine, Alli’s Dad arrived to pick them up.

“Bye Sadie!” See you tomorrow!” They called.

“Bye Alli! Bye Jordan!” I shouted back. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow! It was Amanda’s last day to boss us around and one day before Thanksgiving break!

But what I didn’t know was tomorrow was another odd adventure just waiting to pop up on me!

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