At our charter school the theme for the year is "Reaching For Excellence." To kick off the year they had an essay contest for the 5-6th graders and the 7-8th graders. Madsen won SECOND PLACE out of all of the 5th and 6th graders! He got a certificate and was able to read his essay at an assembly in front of the entire school. He did a great job. We were really proud of his effort.For posterity, here is the essay:
Reaching for excellence doesn’t mean we have to “BE” excellent right at the start. We are “WORKING” toward it. Reaching for excellence means trying to be better at what used to be our best and growing stronger in our talents, abilities and struggles.
I want to use a couple of examples. When a little bird is trying to crack its way out of it’s egg, it takes time, effort, hard work and determination. When the baby bird finally cracks the egg and is free it is also stronger. In school we can’t expect our teacher to just push the lessons into our brains while we sit there. We have to work at it. If someone was trying to help the baby bird and cracked the egg for it, it wouldn’t be strong enough to survive. We have to work for ourselves in school. No one can do it for us if we are the ones who want to learn. We have to better ourselves with our own hard work. After the egg is abandoned, the baby bird is not done. Now it has to learn to fly and soon lay it’s own eggs. Just because I worked hard in fourth grade doesn’t mean I am done with all of the hard work. I need to keep going, keep working hard so I can spread my wings of knowledge that will lead to success.
Sometimes in school I feel like a caterpillar, like I’m not going anywhere, or not progressing. But the caterpillar makes a cocoon and turns into a beautiful butterfly. So even though I might be going slow or not moving at all, if I am reaching for excellence then my mind will become something beautiful with knowledge.
Teachers are like the mothers of the little creatures. They don’t expect me to be perfectly excellent, neither do they expect me to be quick about things and rush myself. The teachers care about things to help me grow. Excellence means working hard and long to achieve my goal.
After I have achieved my goal I can help others achieve their goals and be a successful person. Being excellent right away is a talent that nobody may have, but working on excellence is a talent that everyone can have. And like a baby bird, when I strengthen myself and my wings, I will soon spread my wings and soar off into life.
I want to use a couple of examples. When a little bird is trying to crack its way out of it’s egg, it takes time, effort, hard work and determination. When the baby bird finally cracks the egg and is free it is also stronger. In school we can’t expect our teacher to just push the lessons into our brains while we sit there. We have to work at it. If someone was trying to help the baby bird and cracked the egg for it, it wouldn’t be strong enough to survive. We have to work for ourselves in school. No one can do it for us if we are the ones who want to learn. We have to better ourselves with our own hard work. After the egg is abandoned, the baby bird is not done. Now it has to learn to fly and soon lay it’s own eggs. Just because I worked hard in fourth grade doesn’t mean I am done with all of the hard work. I need to keep going, keep working hard so I can spread my wings of knowledge that will lead to success.
Sometimes in school I feel like a caterpillar, like I’m not going anywhere, or not progressing. But the caterpillar makes a cocoon and turns into a beautiful butterfly. So even though I might be going slow or not moving at all, if I am reaching for excellence then my mind will become something beautiful with knowledge.
Teachers are like the mothers of the little creatures. They don’t expect me to be perfectly excellent, neither do they expect me to be quick about things and rush myself. The teachers care about things to help me grow. Excellence means working hard and long to achieve my goal.
After I have achieved my goal I can help others achieve their goals and be a successful person. Being excellent right away is a talent that nobody may have, but working on excellence is a talent that everyone can have. And like a baby bird, when I strengthen myself and my wings, I will soon spread my wings and soar off into life.
Great job, Mads! You are an incredible writer and one heck of a boy!
.JPG)
5 comments:
Wow. That is just about all I can say. Wow! I'm impressed Madsen. You really ARE one heck of a writer.
Wow is right. What the ??
He must have two awesome writers for parents!!
Way to go, you excellent guy Madsen!
That is a fantastic essay!
Good job Madsen!! I am his librarian this year and I called him Tanner, he might hate my guts now!
Yay Madsen! He trys to tell me he doesn't like school and is so bad at it...including recess. Not like I believed him but Hello! He is an incredible writer!!!
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