I received some absolutely wonderful news this week when I learned that my son Jordan, otherwise known as Orangebird, who is the author of the popular blog, Up in Section 360, (http://upin36011cc.mlblogs.com/) was chosen as the 6th grade winner of Giant Food’s 3rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr./Black History Month Essay Contest. The essay had to address the following topic:

Making a Difference – What Can I Do to Make a Difference in My Community? ”

Giant is a supermarket chain in this area and is well respected for its programs.

This contest was open to legal U.S. private and public school students in grades 6-8 who currently reside in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, or Delaware. Thus, Jordan’s essay was chosen as the best of not just those submitted from Maryland, but those submitted from three states and Washington, DC!!! Now, you may ask, what did Jordan win? Look below for a BIG hint!!

 

 

 So, I know you’re all wondering (especially our fellow blogger friends), can I read his award winning essay? Of course you can! Thus, without further ado, I present to you the Award Winning Essay of my favorite blogger, Jordan Katz!!!

 

How We Can Make a Difference

By Jordan Katz

Patuxent Valley Middle School, 6^th Grade

 

          I feel there are many things that we can do as a community to make a difference. One of the most important things that we can do is to engage in green behaviors.

 

          One especially effective green behavior is paper conservation. There are many different ways to conserve paper.  We could use the reverse side of documents, such as the fliers that schools’ give out.  That way we can turn otherwise useless paper into useful paper. If I did this for all the useless fliers I receive, I would be saving trees with each blank side I used. In addition, if all the other students in my school did the same, that would save a lot of trees!  Taking it even further, if every student in the country did that, then we could significantly reduce the effects of global warming and help clean the air.

 

          I also see some spotty green behaviors occurring in my school, Patuxent Valley Middle School (PVMS) that need to be pointed out to make a difference.  By pointing these inconsistent green behaviors out, I am making a difference.  Thus, if PVMS improves on these behaviors the school can make a difference.

 

          In my opinion, PVMS seems to not really care about the environment. A specific example of this behavior was exhibited the other day when everybody in my Core+ class received a humongous packet filled with Maryland State Assessment (MSA) prep worksheets. It was well over 40 pages long filled with worksheets containing questions similar to those that will be on the MSAs, such as identifying the main idea of the text or what was the problem stated and solution found in the text. In fact, the size of this packet motivated me to start working on this essay. I asked my teacher in that class if she thought that we needed that much paper to be properly prepared for the tests and she said, “no.” 

 

          I believe that the ideal way to rid PVMS and other schools of this need to produce so much paper is to have the worksheets be available electronically on a computer. I have seen this occur in my Science class. Replacing these large packets with a computer based study guide would not only save paper, but would allow students to type rather than write, which appears to be highly preferred by today’s students and should result in them achieving higher scores.

 

          Another type of green behavior that would make a difference is Trash Free Tuesdays or Waste Free Wednesdays. On those days, students are challenged to create less trash during lunch. Additionally, the grade with the least amount of trash per students would receive a prize or gain a privilege of some sort.

 

          In conclusion, those are the things that myself and the school can do make a difference. In my mind, just by writing this, I feel like I “Can Make a Difference” and that is the ultimate prize for me.

 

I invite all of you to join me in congratulating Jordan on this outstanding achievement!!

 

Jordan‘s Dad