Why I am Qualified
This essay is about why I am qualified to be a piano instructor. I got a Superior-minus in a piano contest at the upper-intermediate level. Also, I have been playing the piano for the totality of six years. My household consists of five people and it is two families living together. I am also very intelligent and get Distinguished Honors (straight A’s).
My responsibilities, aside from the obvious, chiefly consist of doing various household chores. I have to take out the trash, carry the laundry down to the basement, and deliver the laundry to people’s rooms. I have an IQ of 144 and got a 268 on the math MAP test (Despite the fact that these numbers are meaningless and are on occasion inaccurate, I just consider them an “accomplishment” because they reflect my intelligence.) I also made the All-Star team as a pitcher in 4th grade. Recently, I got a third place in a piano contest and second place in a piano contest. In addition, I am in chorus (as a major) and band (as a xylophone minor) at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, which I obviously got into.
My basic skills mainly deal with directions. I can follow directions well if they are given to me clearly. I am also good at giving clear directions (e.g. I wouldn’t say, “Get that over there”.). Also, I am very dependable, even if the task that I am assigned to do obliges awakening at 2:00 a.m. Trustworthiness, however, is my “strongest” basic skill, which I use to build trust with all the people around me.
My technical skills, unlike my basic skills, are very numerous. I am very good with music and I have been playing piano for six years. Also, I am particularly intelligent in the school subjects of social studies, history, math, and geography. In addition, I play the guitar, sing, and play the xylophone. I am also very good with little kids.
In conclusion, I think that I would be a good piano teacher for you to hire. I would be a valuable recruiting tool to the company, as children often feel more comfortable with someone of a similar age. In addition, I would be an industrious worker who is an asset to the company. Please hire me and contact me as soon as you have made a hiring decision.

Why I am Qualified
This essay is about why I am qualified to be a piano instructor. I got a Superior-minus in a piano contest at the upper-intermediate level. Also, I have been playing the piano for the totality of six years. My household consists of five people and it is two families living together. I am also very intelligent and get Distinguished Honors (straight A’s).
My responsibilities, aside from the obvious, chiefly consist of doing various household chores. I have to take out the trash, carry the laundry down to the basement, and deliver the laundry to people’s rooms. I have an IQ of 144 and got a 268 on the math MAP test (Despite the fact that these numbers are meaningless and are on occasion inaccurate, I just consider them an “accomplishment” because they reflect my intelligence.) I also made the All-Star team as a pitcher in 4th grade. Recently, I got a third place in a piano contest and second place in a piano contest. In addition, I am in chorus (as a major) and band (as a xylophone minor) at Cab Calloway School of the Arts, which I obviously got into.
My basic skills mainly deal with directions. I can follow directions well if they are given to me clearly. I am also good at giving clear directions (e.g. I wouldn’t say, “Get that over there”.). Also, I am very dependable, even if the task that I am assigned to do obliges awakening at 2:00 a.m. Trustworthiness, however, is my “strongest” basic skill, which I use to build trust with all the people around me.

Why I am Qualified
This essay is about why I am qualified to be a piano instructor. I got a Superior-minus in a piano contest at the upper-intermediate level. Also, I have been playing the piano for the totality of six years. My household consists of five people and it is two families living together. I am also very intelligent and get Distinguished Honors (straight A’s).
My responsibilities, aside from the obvious, chiefly consist of doing various household chores. I have to take out the trash, carry the laundry down to the basement,

Socials

Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a trader from Venice, Italy. Some accounts say that he was born in Croatia, but this theory is widely rejected by most scholars. Polo, along with his uncle, Maffeo Polo, and his father, Niccolo Polo visited many civilizations throughout the Far East, most notably China. The Polo party reached China in 1296 and left in 1291, although they did not reach Venice until 1292. He became a confidant of Kublai Khan (1214-1294), and he traveled all of China. It is reported that he tried to leave numerous times, but Khan enjoyed his company so much that he would not permit him to leave.
The Khan requested Maffeo and Niccolo to ask the Pope to send 100 missionaries when he met them in the 1260s (which was before Marco joined the group), perhaps to convert the Mongols to Christianity. The two Polos did not return with the requested missionaries, but because Marco’s mother died, they had to take him along with them. The Polo party left Venice in 1271, but they did not reach China until 1275. The Khan was fond of Marco and conscripted him for service to the empire. While the Khan enjoyed the company of the Polos, he allowed them to leave the empire under the condition that they would escort a Persian princess who was to be married. The Polos, the princess, and over 500 sailors left on from a port in southern China. The armada left in 1292, but they encountered a horrendous storm. Allegedly, only eighteen people out of the original 600 survived, but this is rather unlikely, as all of the Polos and the princess all survived. They arrived in Venice in 1293.
A few years after Marco Polo returned, in 1298, Venice and Genoa went to war with each other. Marco joined the army, but was taken as a prisoner of war (POW). While he was incarcerated for two years, Marco dictated his travels to a fellow prisoner, Rustichello. Rustichello, who was a French writer, subsequently published the book into The Travels of Marco Polo, which is still in print to this day. In this book, Marco describes the politics, agriculture, military power, economy, sexual practices, and religions of each area. The book was also called Il Milione, meaning a million. This nickname has three possible origins. One is that Emilione was the Polo family nickname. Some people were very skeptical of Marco’s travels, and may have nicknamed the book due to it being “a million (which was considered an extremely large number at the time) lies”. The most likely origin, however is that Marco Polo often described things in the hundreds, thousands, or occasionally millions. A typical passage from the book describes the island of Nicobar as approximately 150 miles north of the island of Java, an anarchic community, and a place where men and women run naked. He describes the people as idolaters who decorated their houses with silk (which hung from rods) as ornaments. He also said that their forests were filled with valuable foods, such as coconuts. The exact passage reads as follows:
Concerning the Island of Nicobar
When you leave the island of Java and the kingdom of Lambri, you sail north about one hundred and fifty miles, and then you come to two islands, one of which is called Nicobar. On this island they have no king or chief, but live like beasts. They go all naked, both men and women, and do not use the slightest covering of any kind. They are idolaters. They decorate their houses with long pieces of silk, which they hang from rods as an ornament, regarding it as we would pearls, gems, silver, or gold. The woods are filled with valuable plants and trees, including cloves, brazil, and coconuts.
There is nothing else worth relating so we will go on to the island of Andaman...

References:
The Travels of Marco Polo (primary)
http://geography.about.com/cs/marcopolo/a/marcopolo.htm
http://www.silk-road.com/artl/marcopolo.shtml

asdfsdafsad

February 27, 2009


Ms. Julie Rumschlag
Cab Calloway School of the Arts
100 N. DuPont Road
Wilmington, DE 19807


Dear Dean Rumschlag

RE: Longer lunch period

I believe that we should have a longer lunch period. It is outrageous that we have only half an hour to eat lunch. Sometimes, even when I do not go outside or talk for an extended period of time, I cannot finish my lunch. Also, when I do go outside (which I almost always do), I have to give up eating at least part of my sandwich. I am fully aware that this cafeteria must accommodate the Cab Calloway high school and middle school, as well as the Charter School of Wilmington. However, it seems to me that Cab Calloway is getting the shorter end of the stick. Both the high school and middle school only have a half-hour for lunch, while Charter gets to have lunch for a longer duration.

As I am sure you are aware, a longer lunch would mean a longer time for the students to play in the courtyard. This would allow students to exert more of their energy, which would result in fewer people using their energy in the classroom by not settling down. More time in the courtyard would also allow the students to converse with their friends more. This would deter some of the chatter that occurs in the classroom, which is quite irksome to both teachers and students. While this would inevitably take time away from the educational period of the day, a substantial portion of the amount of time spent on dissuading the classroom chatter would now be used for teaching. This would result in a near equilibrium between the time given that is no longer needed to deter talking and the time taken away from class with the extended lunch period. It seems to me to be a win-win situation to have more time in the courtyard for the students.

More time for a lunch period would also allow students to make up tests during the lunch period, while still allowing both teachers and students to eat their lunch. This has been a serious problem in Mr. Edwards’s class, where many students (those who can) are forced to make up their tests during their arts (or occasionally academics) periods, which could force them to miss important material in those classes. Also, students who are doing poorly in Mr. Beam’s (there may be other teachers who do this as well) class, or just want peace and quiet from the vociferous noise in the cafeteria could go to his class to either make up work or to seek sanctuary from the noise would have more time to do so, and have the ability to do so as well as eat their entire lunch. Of course, students who have not had lunch will probably do poorly for the remainder of the school day, which would bode ill for the student’s grade on any upcoming tests or quizzes.
Having a longer lunch period would be advantageous to the teachers as well. In addition to the reasons that I mentioned above, the teachers who eat lunch would get a longer time to discuss things in the faculty dining room, which would mean that teachers would not get into extensive discussions in between class periods and then be late to class. It would also mean that teachers who do not eat lunch would have more time to get their work done during school hours. That would mean that teachers would probably not do their work during class, which also sucks time from the students’ actual learning time. I think everyone would drink from the well of a longer lunch period.
Overall, I think that there are absolutely no reasons to not have an extended lunch period. As I stated earlier, I think that this is very much of a “Catch 21” idea, meaning that virtually no harm could possibly come out of it. It would be very popular among students and teachers alike, and it would make everyone happier. An extended lunch period would allow students to exert energy and make up work. It would also allow teachers to get things done. Please consider implementing this change during the 2009-2010 school year.

Sincerely


Jonathan Tate
Student

igjwrog

The Western Wall
by
Jonathan Tate
The Western Wall was constructed in 19 B.C.E. by Herod the Great. It is in the midst of the Old City of Jerusalem. It has remained completely intact since the destruction of the Second Jewish Temple in 70 C.E. It has become a sacred spot in Jewish religious consciousness, due to the proximity to the Western Wall of the Holy of Holies in the Temple. It has hence been associated with Israel’s exile (and hope for restoration). Because of this, it is known in some European languages as the “Wailing Wall”.
The wall aboveground consists of 24 rows of stones, varying in height and measure, but measuring 18 meters (54 feet and 9 inches) high. In 1867, much archeological excavation revealed that 19 more layers of rock lay beneath the ground.
Since 132 C.E. (the failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt), the prayers of Israel, both in Israel and throughout the Jewish Diaspora, have been directed toward this wall. The wall has been incorporated in Jewish tradition since approximately 1520, probably due to either the immigration of the Spanish exiles or due to the Turkish conquest in 1528. Jewish sources in Jerusalem up to the 16th Century have noted an attachment to the Holy Place, although the Western Wall is almost never specifically mentioned. However, Benjamin from Tudela mentioned the wall in his writing in the 12th Century. Also, the scroll of Ahimaaz in the 11th Century also made reference to a synagogue by the side of the Western Wall. No Muslim sources indicate any Arab interest whatsoever in the Wall. Despite this, the nearby area became Muslim religious property in at the end of the 12th Century. The Muslims often used it as a garbage dump to humiliate the Jews who were visiting there. Jews, however, were later allowed to hold their prayers at the Wall undisturbed.
As the Israeli Jewish population expanded, so did the popularity of the Wall among Jews. During the 19th Century, the Jews attempted to gain control of the wall. Despite their numerous efforts to obtain it by any means (Hakham Abdullah even attempted to buy it), the Jews could not gain control of the Wall. Occasionally, a table for reading the Torah was placed near the Wall, but was forcibly removed by the Waqf (Muslim religious authorities). During the British Mandate, there was much fighting between Jews and Muslims over the wall. After the Balfour declaration, which gave Israel independence, the Wall obtained significance both nationally and religously.
In 1930, during the period of the British Mandate, a committee (consisting of a Swede, a Swiss, and a Dutchman) was set up to resolve the conflict between Jews and Muslims over who had what rights to the Wall. The committee came to the conclusion that while Muslims had absolute ownership of the Wall, Jews had an unlimited right to worship there (but not to blow the shofar there). The Muslims objected, but the Jews agreed, however they objected to the last part, considering it to be an insult.
After May 1948 (the submission of the Jewish Quarter), Jews were forbidden to even look at the Wall from afar. However, Israel seized the Wall on the third day of the Six-Day War when Israeli parachutists broke through the “Bloody Gate”. The Moghrabi Quarter was subsequently demolished. On the first day of Shavuot, 250,000 Jews flocked to the Wall. The entire area in front of the Wall was leveled and converted into a paved open space.
The Western Wall is generally considered to be among the holiest places in the Jewish religion. It has a very extensive history and remains to this day a topic of contention between Jews and Arabs.

My English Paper

The Tornado
When I was seven years old, I was in an F2 tornado. I was at a restaurant called Lulu’s in San Antonio, Texas. It was about 7:00 p.m. on a Saturday night. This was no ordinary vacation.
My mother and I came into the restaurant at about 6:30. It was quite windy, and it was storming very severely. When we got inside, there was a toddler, who was constantly shrieking. I will admit, once the storm got worse, I was so scared that I hid under the table. That was among the most frightening experiences of my life.
Speaking of the wind, it was blowing as fast as the lightning. Sustained winds were at 105 mph, and gusts reached 135 mph. In fact, the wind was so loud that you had to yell right in someone’s ear just to speak to them. That was the “windiest” experience of my life.
At about 7:30, the storm finally let up. The aftermath was horrendous. A few of the windows in Lulu’s were broken. A nearby revolving restaurant toppled over. Overall, the tornado left four dead and seventeen injured.
In conclusion, this was a very “exciting” storm. I felt a wide range of emotions. Fear, excitement, and wonder come to mind. I guess people who live in “Tornado Alley” get used to this. I never will.