Summer Projects

By Danya

Reading

Reading

This summer I read the Heroes of the Olympians series.

The first book is called The Lost Hero. It is about three kids who all meet at the Wilderness School, which is a school for trouble makers, and go on a quest together. The kids’ names are Leo, Piper and Jason. All of them are demi-gods. That means that one of their parents is a god and the other parent is regular or a mortal person. Leo’s father is the god of tools and fire. Piper’s mom is the goddess of love and beauty. Jason’s dad is the god of the sky. All of the kids have two things in common one is that they are all demi-gods, and the other is that they all have a problem. Leo’s problem is that he keeps seeing vision of Gaea, who is the evil goddess of the earth. Piper’s problem is that a giant kidnapped her famous father who is an actor. Jason’s problem is that his memory was taken away and he can’t remember anything from his past including his name and age.

They all got moved from their school and transferred to a Greek camp for demi-gods. At camp they get put on a mission to save the queen of the gods. When they go on the mission they run into a whole bunch of monsters, saved Piper’s dad and Hera and became better friends. When they saved Hera, the queen of the gods, she gave most of Jason’s memory back. When Jason gets his memory back he finds out that he is not from the Greek camp, but that he is from a Roman camp.

READ THE BOOK TO FIND OUT THE END!

Reading ContinuedThe second book is called The Son of Neptune. The three main characters are named Frank, Hazel and Percy. It is also about kids who meet and go on a quest together. Except this time they meet at a Roman camp. Percy Jackson has the same problem as Jason had. He can’t remember anything either. The other two had worse problems. Frank’s problem was that his life depended on a piece of firewood. Hazel’s problem was that she was brought back from the dead. It all started when Percy found himself running away from gorgons, monsters with snake hair, who couldn’t die. Whenever Percy killed them they would turn into sand then reform back into them self. Then Percy finally escaped from them. He ran down to a highway and found an old hippie lady who needed his help. Percy took the old lady to the place that she told him to go to. It was a Roman camp for demi-gods. When they got to the camp the old lady transformed into a warrior with a goatskin cape. It is Juno, a Roman version of Hera. Juno tells a prophecy and what needed to happen and then left. That is when the friends meet. The next day they all get put on a quest to go rescue Death from a giant. They all go on the mission, rescue Death, kill a giant, come back to camp and win a war all in one week. Then Percy gets his memory back, and he also gets a letter from the Greek camp saying that a war ship is coming with four of the people from the prophecy of seven. They were coming to pick up the other three people.

READ THE NEXT BOOK TO FIND OUT THE END! (It is coming out in the fall)

Create and Construct

Create and Construct

For my create and construct project, I helped start building a shower enclosure, with my dad, at our friend Mitch’s house. I had to be careful with all the tools. I also had to be aware of other people and space around me. To be safe I had to wear a hardhat.

Below is the order of how we made a shower: Read the plans Layed out and snapped chalk lines Cut existing floor and floor framing Built the stem walls Framed new shower floor 

The Plummer will then come and install the rough drain. There are many more steps to finish the shower but I had to go back to camp.

Exploring

Exploring

I went to a dance school in Philadelphia for two weeks this summer. The school is called the Rock School for Dance Education. I stayed in a Jack and Jill dorm at Cabrini Collage with two teenagers, without my family.

Every morning I would go to breakfast at a dining common, then after breakfast I would go on a bus to downtown Philly. That is where the Rock School is located. The classes started at 8:45 Eastern Standard Time (it is three hours ahead of California time). I did a ballet class for an hour and a half and then I had a point class for an hour. We then had a nice long lunch break in the school cafeteria. After lunch I had another ballet class for an hour and a half. After that long day I got back on the bus and drove back to the dorms.

While I was in class. I met and learned about my teachers. Most of them taught at the Rock School year round. I had eight teachers that were all special in their own ways. They all taught differently but they taught the same style of Ballet. Most of my teachers have taught at the Rock School for over ten years. They were all fantastic!

One of my roommates got promoted to a higher level, so she left later in the morning than me and came back later in the afternoon. Her name is Gianna Nale. She is thirteen. She is also from California. I have known Gianna since I was five weeks old. Gianna goes to the same Ballet academy, in Carmel, as I do and she used to go to ISM. My other roommate’s name is Ally Chumney. She is fourteen. Ally was in a level lower than Gianna. Ally is from South Carolina.

Exploring ContinuedTo leave Philadelphia we had to travel with a grown up. Gianna’s mom, Jeannine, flew

out to pick us up. Jeannine toured us around Philadelphia for a couple of days. We got to see the Liberty Bell, walked by the United States Mint, toured the Independence Hall, tasted a Philly Cheese Steak sandwich, and did many other things.  

When we got on the airplane in Philadelphia, to head home, we had to wait on the tarmac for two hours because of lightning. When we started flying, that also took a couple hours and when we landed in Houston our timing got worse. We couldn’t get to the gate for an hour and then when we did get off the plane we had to run to the next flight. Jeannine was in her high heals trying to keep up with Gianna and I. I was getting an asthma attack. When we got to the gate we found out that the flight was delayed an hour, which meant we would miss our connection home. I almost cried. We decided that instead of taking a long flight to LA and then having to find a hotel there late at night, we would just stay in Houston. That is what we did. The next day we left to go to Denver and then on to Monterey. On the flight to Monterey we almost did not get to land, because of fog. I was really nervous, but the pilot was able to land in Monterey and we all cheered. I went in to the airport and saw my family. That put the biggest smile on my face.

By going to this school I have learned many things. I have learned how to be a better dancer by improving my technics and posture , and how to live by myself without my family. I also learned how to make friends and how to stand the “wet” heat. Now I understand how responsible you have to be to live by yourself, and why you don’t move out when you are a kid.

Getting My First Point Shoes

To dance en pointe, in Philadelphia, I needed to get the shoes. I went with my mom to Prima Dancewear, in San Jose, to get my pointe shoes. The owner helped me pick out the correct ones. The company that makes the pointe shoes is called Russian Pointe. The type of shoe is called Diamond. They were 80 dollars for the shoes and I had to get toe pads and tape so the total was 112 dollars! I was SO excited to get them.

Arriving at the Rock School

Drawing by Danya

In Philadelphia I went sightseeing, shopping, and Cheese Steak tasting. I rated my Cheese Steak, 6 out of 10. I also went to a dance school, saw fireworks and the liberty bell.

Give Yourself Away

Give Yourself AwayOne weekend my neighbors had a nursery liquidation to raise

money for charity. I went over to their farm and asked them if I could volunteer. They said that I could. So, I showed people around and sold some plants. It was fun.

My sister also came but she didn’t want to help. She really likes succulents so I helped her pick one out. It is really cute and you hardly need to water it.

It felt good to help someone without personal gain.

Dinner

DinnerFor my multiple course meal project I chose to make a three course dinner at my cousin’s

house in Clovis.

First I decide what to make. I went to the store and got all the ingredience that I needed. Then I went home and determined how much time it would take to make it.

I washed my hands and then started to cook. I started with making the stuffing for the turkey. I cut up celery, pulled apart bread, cracked an egg and added spices. Then I stuffed the turkey and set it in the oven with help from an adult. I set the timer and let it cook for four hours. While the turkey was cooking I set the table and started making croutons for the salad.

To make the croutons you need sourdough bread, olive oil, garlic powder and garlic salt. First step of making croutons is to cover the bread with olive oil then put garlic salt and powder on. I did this on both sides of the bread. The second part is to let them bake at a low temperature for a long time.

Next I made a salad. In that salad were some tomatoes, that I picked from the garden. I also made zucchini, mashed potatoes, and bread rolls. Then I set the table and set the turkey, stuffing, bread rolls, zucchini, and mashed potatoes out as the first course. Then we had the salad, with the croutons for the second course. The third course was strawberry shortcakes. I cut up strawberries and made a yummy whipping cream with cream, sugar and vanilla.

I used all the food sorts. Dairy, vegetables, fruit, fats, grains and poultry. It was a great meal that everyone enjoyed.

After dinner, I cleaned up all the dishes spotlessly.

My Three Course Meal

More Summer Fun

More Summer Fun I visited my cousin in Clovis for 4 days. We went swimming, took their dog

to dog training, spent hours jumping at the Sky Walk, went to the movies and saw Ice Age, I cooked a 3 course dinner for them, and we got to hang out with Louise Mandrel at a theater.

My mom got some free passes to the Rodeo in Salinas . I went with my family. My favorite part was the parade. I also liked the barrel racing. I really didn’t like the bull fighting, or when they would ride the bull, or when they would make the horses go wild and see how long the rider could stay on the horse. I got mad and almost cried because I thought that it was really cruel. One of the things that a Rodeo Clown did while fighting a bull was that he ran away from the bull and jumped on a fence. Then he jumped on the bull’s head and ran across it’s back. That made the bull mad and so the bull knocked the man over and started trampling on him. His clown friends got the bull away. They had to get doctors to have a look at the man.

I am attending a theatre camp at the Hartnell College for the last two weeks of summer. We have done dance classes, singing classes and plays. It is great fun!!! It is the second time I have been to a college this summer. We even got student IDs.

Hanging out with Louise Mandrel

Hartnell Students

Rodeo

The End!