The trip to China was my favorite school trip we’ve gone on so far. I had two favorite experiences from the trip. The first was the Great Wall of China, because we’ve all been looking forward to it for so long. It was amazing to see and learn about the history built in, from how long it took to build it, to the lighting of the flames to signal an enemy attack. My other favorite thing was the Temple of Heaven. I loved seeing and participating in the Tai Chi because it’s such a big part of the Chinese culture, and the movements and their names were so interesting. I also really liked the Chinese yo yos, because they’re a typical pastime, and not at all something you would do in America. The Temple of Heaven is definitely a really important place to visit because you get to experience so much of the culture and daily life. I was also really proud of myself because I tried a lot of spicy foods on this trip!
We’re getting a lot closer to our social justice teach-in! Our group is doing a lot of extra work to make sure our slideshow is getting ready. We presented to a few teachers who gave us a lot of good feedback that we incorporated into our slideshow.
Recently, our social justice group, the menstrual equity group, has been going on a lot of fieldwork. Yesterday, Jennifer Weiss-Wolf came to speak to our class about her book, Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity, and then we did an interview with her afterwards. I was able to learn many new interesting things about my topic which I’m very interested in.
On MLK Day at our school, we do a pajama drive and I went to it yesterday. We packaged pajamas, toiletries, books and cards for homeless children and made signs for the Women’s March next week.
When my social justice group went to Period Con, there was a seminar about possible jobs at period.org. One of the jobs was a summer internship, and I decided I wanted to apply for that job. I filled out an application and created a resume. If I get chosen for the internship, I will be working over the summer doing different things for this organization.
As a group, I think that we did pretty well on Seasons of Love. We have worked on it for a while, and in the concert, I think that paid of. Most of us weren’t very happy with what we had that morning in the rehearsal. Because of that, I think we tried to put our best foot forward. It may not have been the best we could have done, but overall, we should be proud of how much we progressed from the rehearsal to the concert. As an individual, I didn’t really want to do the small group in Til the Walls Come Down. I hadn’t really wanted to do this, but I worked pretty hard on it, and I think it turned out well.
I’m in the middle school play, which is Twelfth Night, by William Shakespeare. I’m playing Viola, the girl who dresses up as a male, but she falls in love with her boss, who is in love with someone else. This is a valuable experience for me because since I am one of the oldest people in the play, I can be a leader in many ways. Also, if I decide I want to pursue acting as a job, this will prepare me for the future.
This is my artist’s statement about my memorial.
Memorial to Ivan Karp
This memorial is to my grandfather, Ivan Karp. He was very special to me, but unfortunately, he died in 2012. He was an art dealer, he owned a gallery called O.K. Harris, but he also discovered the artists Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein, among many others. He is buried in a little town in upstate New York that our family goes to a lot, called Charlotteville. Next to his grave stone is a tall gray obelisk that says Karp on it, and this memorial was inspired by that. Visitors will walk in through the gravel paths, and can run, eat, play or just generally relax on the four segments of grass. Each segment represents a different aspect of his life, even though they are not labeled. The four aspects are art, family, New York City and Charlotteville. The tall, concrete obelisk is brushed with gold leaf at the top and bottom. The memorial looks a bit like the Washington Monument, but it would be much shorter, only about 175 feet. This memorial is simple and straightforward, hopefully how he would have wanted it to be. This should make people happy, rather than melancholy. When people visit, they should think about his life and how amazing it was, or learn about him if they didn’t already know him. This would be placed in some sort of grassy area in New York. My grandfather was a New Yorker, and he loved this city so much. This memorial could never be anywhere else. I hope this memorial will help people remember him.
-Zoe Karp
This demonstrates the learning value of doing something that matters to me personally.
To me, learning is meaningful when it provides opportunities to learn about topics that matter to me personally, develop skills that will help me be a responsible adult and show leadership.
This is the Photoshop project I’ve been making in art. It is a picture of buildings in NY blending into the country. It displays all of the elements of design, which are Pattern, Contrast, Emphasis, Balance, Proportion/Scale, Harmony and Rhythm/Movement. For pattern, there is the pattern of the buildings. There are many things that display contrast. One of them is the purple plane in the blue sky. These are some of the elements of design.
