Swirling Tides

Should Students Have Homework?            Homework. Students spend time completing it, teachers spend time grading it. It’s a word that sends a shudder down the spines of students, a word that many students dread hearing. However, I strongly believe that there should be homework in middle school, for several reasons.       First of all, studies have shown that homework improves student achievement in terms of improved grades, test results, and the likelihood of attending college. According to research by the Institute for the Study of Labor, if you take the case of high school boys, increased homework led to better GPAs and higher probability of college attendance for them. In fact, the ones who attended college did more than three hours of additional homework per week in high school. According to time.com, a meta-analysis by Duke university psychology professor Harris Cooper found evidence of a positive correlation between homework...

(This is a prize winning essay on Autism, at the Middle school level) “Autism is not a tragedy. Ignorance is the tragedy.”       Autism has been around for decades. In fact, almost 50 years have passed since the Autism Society held the first National Awareness Month. The first annual National Autistic Children’s week was launched in 1972. It eventually evolved into Autism Acceptance Month. Autism was originally thought to be ableist and a condition that had to be cured. But now, the dialogue about autism is shifting from a negative chance to a positive one. Although a lot has been achieved, there’s still a long way to go.       I believe that Autism Acceptance means just that - accepting autism, making autistic people feel welcome in the world. It means looking beyond the stereotypes of autism. And recognizing that autistics are also members of our communities while acknowledging that they express themselves differently. Autism is just a way of lo...

(This essay won first place at a district-wide level) Keep Moving Forward “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” - Martin Luther King Jr. ‘Keep moving forward’ is an encouragement. Dr. King said he dreamed that people will live in a nation where we won’t be judged by our complexion, but by the content of our character. He wanted us to strive to understand each other first, than to be understood. He wanted us to treat each other with kindness. Dr. King was thrown in jail, his house being bombed, received death threats and intimidation, yet, he marched forward with love, not violence.  ‘Keep moving forward’ is a proclamation. Dr. King fought for equality and racial justice, peacefully. Today, we still have racial injustice, barriers to voter participation and health care coverage, which we need to address. The people who believed they could make a difference, fighting for wha...