Liam Schema Builder 1 - Trumpet

With some of the excessive time I have had in isolation, I decided it would be a good idea to learn trumpet. I’ve been pretty successful so far, meaning that I think I could play at a middle school level. This started with Mr. Hilborn’s march madness challenge, in which I endeavoured to play as many parts as I could. Since my brother plays trumpet there was a horn readily available, so that was the logical choice. After the first week, I thought it was pretty easy. I was at a good beginner range, low G to high G, and despite being a woodwind player was advancing rapidly. After the second week, I had discovered a newfound respect for higher level trumpet players. Advancing beyond a mediocre level on trumpet is hard. It takes a lot of time and practice to achieve. Whenever a trumpet player complains about their embouchure hurting, I won’t think poorly of them at all. Despite the effort and pain that trumpet can be at times, it comes with some benefits - it is fun to play and you are almost guaranteed to have the melody. Adding it has really filled out my instrumental repertoire, and leads me to a question. What instrument do I learn next?

Stephan Schema Builder 1: Importance of Sleep

I decided to do a TED talk for my schema builder and one that caught my interest was about the importance of sleep. As of now, sleep is not really an issue with this whole Coronavirus deal as I can get all the sleep that I need, but none the less I still thought it would be interesting to see how important is it that we get a full night of sleep.

While watching the talk it was amazing to see how much sleep we get affects our entire body, from our learning and memory to our cardiovascular health. Lack of sleep can lead to higher cancer risk, higher Alzheimers risk, and can even have an effect on your DNA. I realized that sleep was an important thing, but what I did not realize was just how important it was. I often chip away at the amount of sleep I get each night by working on school work and whatnot.

I decided that if or when we go back to a normal school day, I would make sure that I try to get as much sleep when I can. I realize that this won’t work every single night, as situations arise that can’t be predicted, but most days I can be precautious and make sure that I get everything done so I don’t have to sacrifice sleep. As of now, I can only hope that I eventually won’t lose sight of the benefits of sleep in the future. All I can do now in quarantine is set up a regular sleep schedule that I can maintain and make a habit going forward in hopes of better sleep in the future.

Emma Schema Builder 1

The other day I was finally allowed to go to a hiking place called Illick’s Mill Park. It’s in Bethlehem, and it has a waterfall, a stream with ducks and geese, and a hiking/nature walk area. I wanted to go somewhere other than Jacobsburg because I always go there, and I wanted to change it up. My mom let me bring my friend there too because it was the day after his birthday.
We couldn’t find the trail at first because I parked on the road that Waze told me to. After a few minutes of discussing where the trail could be, a guy came out from his house and knocked on my window. He told us the actual directions, and I quickly found the right place to go. The waterfall was really pretty with a little bridge overlooking it. I took pictures by the waterfall, but none of them turned out really good. I also fed the geese some bread and cheerios before I left. We didn’t have time to hike because it got dark, which sort of disappointed me. However, I was just very happy that I was able to do something other than stay at my house.
Being outside surrounded by the waterfall and trees was a really great experience because I have been stuck inside mostly other than the occasional outing to the grocery store or on a short walk with my family. This experience has definitely taught me to value my freedom more, especially being able to go in public places and see my friends. I would recommend visiting Illick’s Mill Park if you are tired of going to Jacobsburg all the time and want to take cute pictures by a waterfall. Have you been hiking so far during this quarantine?

Renee, Schema Builder 1: Inception (Academy Award Winning Movie)

Along with many other things, there are certain movies I´ve wanted to watch recently, but I couldn´t find the time. Although this pandemic is full of unknowns and fear, a positive has been being able to do things with all the free time the quarantine provides. I´ve watched a few movies and shows so far (TIGER KING!!!!), but my favorite by far was Inception. My dad had always been pushing for me to watch the movie, as he loves it too, but I wanted to wait until I was around this age because I heard it was complicated. I can confirm, that going into the movie knowing almost nothing about it, you do need to pay attention the entire time.

Leonardo Dicaprio is also one of my favorite actors, so I may have been a little predisposed to like the movie off the bat, but after watching and reading reviews after, it is definitely a well-respected film. It was directed by Christopher Nolan, who is known for making in-depth movies that can be hard to figure out watching through the first time.

I won´t give anything away, but from the insane storyline to the cliffhanger ending, I loved the film the whole way through. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes movies that make you think, or some type of psychological science fiction. I think I honestly need to watch the movie again to catch some things I may have missed.

I am in need of new movie ideas so feel free to give me some!

Liz Schema Builder 1- The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez (Documentary)

During the first week of quarantine, I watched The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez. It’s a documentary that dives into the case murder of Gabriel Fernandez, an eight-year-old boy that died from child abuse in California. In the documentary, you find out his story, and all the ways it could’ve been prevented. You also see the trial of Gabriel’s killer. It was honestly really sad and I had a hard time watching parts of it. However, I thought it was really interesting and informative, and also brought up points that not everyone thinks about in cases like this one.

There were two interesting things about the trials of Gabriel’s murder. First off, the defendants were being tried not only for first-degree murder, but the jury had to decide whether or not they deserved the death penalty. It’s not very common for people to get the death penalty in child abuse cases, at least not in California (where Gabriel and his family lived). However, since the defendants were being tried for first-degree murder with the use of torture, I can understand why they chose to go that route. The other thing that was interesting and unexpected in this case was the fact that four social workers who were involved with Gabriel were also being tried for neglecting the child and falsifying government records. Throughout the documentary, it was made clear that this was an unprecedented decision and there were a lot of mixed opinions about it. They couldn’t talk much about the actual trial of the social workers, because it is taking place right now (or at least when the doc was released). However, they talked a lot about why they were also being charged, and one of the social workers actually talked in the documentary about his story and why he felt he shouldn’t be to blame.

I thought it was really interesting that the social workers were also charged, because not only is it uncommon, it also sheds light on the fact that there are issues within the system that prevent children like Gabriel from getting the help they need. Hopefully, things can change, because no child should be denied the help they need and die at the hands of their parents.

I definitely recommend the documentary to anyone who’s interested, just be warned though that there are many pictures of the abuse that was done to Gabriel, and it can be hard to see.

12/Schema Builder #1 - Julie : Watching an Award Winning Movie - 1917

Many of my fellow classmates have grandparents and great-grandparents who were involved in World War II (WW2) in some way or form. I, myself, have only heard stories of how my great-grandparents on my mother’s side survived the evils of the Nazi Party and the beginning of the Iron Curtain. I am also lucky enough to be able to listen to my mother’s stories of how the Iron Curtain affected her childhood. Being able to listen to all these stories about life in Poland sparked my interest in its history especially during times of great conflict.

My belief is that the only way to truly figure out how a historical event affected society you have to hear it from someone directly involved. Though due to the passing years, it is getting harder and harder to listen to first-hand accounts of survivors of World War I (WW1) and WW2. With this, a spike in books and movies about soldiers and survivors of both wars have been becoming more popular to spread the story of true history and not only that of what is given in textbooks. 

Recently, a movie came out called 1917. This is a story handed down through the generations of one family until one day it was made into a movie to be shared with all the world. It is a WW1 movie which highlights the struggles of two men trying to save 1600 men in an eight hour period. It shows the true struggle of the journey to cross enemy territory and save their fellow soldiers, instead of reading in a textbook that two men stopped a slaughter of fellow soldiers. The movie allows for people to feel and see the pain and anxiety of the two soldiers whereas in a textbook you would never get to.

Being able to watch 1917 was an amazing experience in general. Both the story, directing, and acting were phenomenal. When I first saw the trailer for 1917, I was beyond ecstatic and knew that I wanted to watch this movie. While watching, I was engaged with the story and hanging on the edge of the seat the entire time. I was happy that this story was able to be shared with the world because if you think about it there are so many extraordinary stories that the world will never truly know about. Also, the movie was heart-wrenching to a point I have never felt while watching any type of historical war movie. It truly portrayed the actions and emotions that had to happen to fulfill the mission these two men were sent on.

I wish that when looking at history people looked for the smaller stories that helped the overall event to pass. There is so much that needs to happen for a major event to pass and usually there is an interesting story behind each and every small step taken. It is also important to note that all small actions lead to something greater and more historically noticeable in the future. Telling stories of our past will only help and strengthen those who are creating our futures.

Kadison Schema 1 - Painting

I have never been particularly good at anything art related. When I was younger, I enjoyed doodling in my notebooks and painting during art classes. When I started getting older, and grades started mattering more, I became frustrated with myself when I would try to do anything art and it wasn’t the way I pictured it in my head. This eventually led me to avoid all art classes when I got to high school.

During field hockey season, we had a team bonding exercise that involved painting on a small canvas. We had to paint a background and letter with words we wanted to be as a team. I found that I still really enjoyed the activity, especially because there was nothing (like a grade) at risk. My mom must’ve gotten the hint somehow that I enjoyed it because I ended up getting ten 8”x10” canvases for Christmas, but I hadn’t had time to actually sit down and paint until this quarantine.

The hardest part is figuring out what to actually paint. I had to pick something relatively easy/simple because I obviously don’t have a lot of skill yet, so I ended up googling a lot of “easy painting” ideas. Once I figured out what I’m painting, the rest came relatively easy. It was actually really relaxing being able to just focus on something that didn’t have consequences if I messed up.

Once I finished painting, I got this weird sense of pride. Even though I know my paintings aren’t particularly creative or good, the satisfaction of completing it felt amazing. They won’t really be special to anyone else but me (or possibly my family/friends), but it’s still really cool to think I created something worthwhile on my own. Painting, and art itself actually, can be a messy process. With all the demands life can give us, it's super refreshing to be allowed to mess something up. I would definitely recommend painting to anyone who has the supplies during this quarantine.

These are my two favorite paintings I've done so far.

Schema Builder: Interstellar

I recently watched the movie Interstellar while in quarantine. The movie is a science fiction adventure through space and time. It won multiple awards including the academy award for best visual effects. I thought I would write about it because it made me want to learn more about space time.

In the movie, earth is on the verge of being inhabitable so scientist try to discover habitable planets through a worm hole in our galaxy. As the movie goes on the main character finds out he was sent on a one way trip to humankind's new home. After exploring a few planets the idea of time becomes relative. Days are longer or shorter depending on each one. The crew then made a mistake on a planet where days are extremely faster than earth time sending them into the future. Last in an attempt to return to earth, the main character enters a black hole. I won't give away the rest of the movie.

The movie brought up ideas and concepts about the speed of time in space, wormholes, and black holes which I found very interesting. I ended up looking even deeper by watching YouTube videos about those things. The movie in my opinion was good and just made me think about things I wouldn't have before watching it. What are other movies that are similar or make you think deeply?

Schema Builder- Passionate Minds

Passionate Minds

Over the break, I did a lot of reading and research in the early hours of the morning when my mind was spinning too fast to sleep. I read about the Grateful Dead, Vietnam, Van Gogh, and religion among many other things. Throughout my early morning informational sessions, my friend and I would facetime and talk about whatever it was he or I had discovered. He was doing just as much, if not more, research as I was. After doing a little reading on the French Revolution, he suggested a book titled Passionate Minds written by David Bodanis. 

The book explores the lives of enlightenment writer and philosopher Voltaire and the rarely heard about Émilie du Châtelet. But more specifically, the love affair they had together. The book explores the relationship between the two, both passionate and intellectual. In fact, much of the passion they held for one another was through the ideas they would ponder and share. What many people don't know is that Émilie du Châtelet was a brilliant mathematician who loved to study the stars and planets in the night sky and wrote math equations to describe the gravitational pull of the sun. Although she is rarely credited for it, her extensions of Newton’s laws are what made Einstein’s equation E=mc2 possible. She also helped Volatire shape many of his opinions on current French society along with religion. 

This novel took me a long time to get through. The writing is not terribly hard, but much of the book is letters and accounts from Voltaire and Émilie’s close family and friends. It's also hard to keep many of the supporting characters straight because they are seldom mentioned but important to the storyline. The book allowed me to dive deeper into what French Society in the Enlightenment era was like for a female. She was looked down upon, even by her own mother, for wanting to know things and educate herself. Her high society friends shook their heads at her for thinking their petty gossip was stupid and shallow. Voltaire was the only one, aside from her late father, who encouraged her thinking and was amazed by the capabilities of her mind. I had just learned about this part of the world’s history in class, and it helped me understand a lot of what the people in France were feeling on a more personal level. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has some free time this quarantine season.

Schema Builder 1: A VERY long walk

Hey guys! This weekend my dad and I woke up and, out of pure boredom, figured we'd go on a walk. When starting, we were not envisioning a 4-mile nature walk, but maybe just a stroll around the neighborhood. Instead, we got the 4-mile nature walk. My dad does not live in Nazareth, so I am not exactly familiar with my surroundings at his house. Therefore, this was a pretty interesting walk. We were not planning on going this far but he decided to take a trail that was a long longer than we expected. It was a ripe 30-degree morning and let's just say I was not exactly excited to walk in the freezing cold but that took a turn. He ended up bringing me to this path with a river, abandoned tunnel, and a bunch of cute dogs being walked by their owners haha. Not only did I get to experience some cool parts of a place I don't get to explore much, but I also was able to spend some quality time with my dad, who I also don't see much. We talked basically the whole walk, shared jokes, told stories, and gossiped. I know it seems pretty cliche, but it meant a lot more to me than I thought it would. It was nice to stop in time and take a break from school and my worries and to just spend time with someone important. By the time we got home, our cheeks and noses were BRIGHT RED from the cold and we were complaining about the length of the walk to my step-mom but we both knew we wouldn't take it back.