On Dec. 1, I spent my school day in my school gym, waiting on the bleachers with 27 people and once in a while being called up to the microphone to spell a word. It was my school level spelling bee, and after being given the word, ‘fonda,” which in simple terms is an inn, I became one of the two BASIS Oro Valley School Spelling Bee Champions. Ela Adhikari, an 8th grader, was the other champion.
Do you know what’s been keeping firefighters alive? Garrett Morgan and his inventions. He made belt fasteners, traffic lights and more.
Morgan was born on March 4, 1877, in Paris, Kentucky. His parents, Elizabeth Reed and Sydney Morgan, were both originally slaves. Morgan was the seventh child of 11. He attended Branch Elementary and had a private tutor. After Morgan graduated from 6th grade, he dropped out of school. He moved to Ohio in search of employment.
Recently I attended a fun Bear Essential News Reporter Zoom with author/illustrator LeUyen Pham and author Shannon Hale. They shared how they met, how they became best friends and talked about the books they have worked on together.
Every year the U.S. Mint produces about 13 billion coins! That’s a lot, right? It recently announced that there will be a new picture on the quarter! The first woman on the quarter is…Maya Angelou! Angelou is a poet who read “On the Pulse of the Morning” when President Bill Clinton was being inaugurated. She is also known for many of her books like: “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” and “And Still I Rise.” She will be the first African American printed on a coin. Each year for the next five years, they’ll print a new trailblazer.
Well met, my Lords and Ladies! I had so much fun when I went to the opening weekend of the 34th Renaissance Festival and Artisan Marketplace. The Renaissance Festival has a 16-stage theatre, a 50-acre circus, and an arts and crafts fair with over 200 artisans.
