Elementary Division

Why I Think My Friend Should Attend PACT Charter School
Noah Jacobson
Age 9

I think my friends should go to my school because the teachers always put in a great effort to make learning fun.

I like how our school has communications sheets to share what we learneded each day. I also like that our school has creative writing contests. I have written stories about The Amazon Rain Forest, My Father, and The Roman Empire. I think it's awesome how our school does a symposium each year. Every year for one week, we turn our school into whatever our subject is about, such as The Roman Empire, and The Amazon Rain Forest. I always learn a lot from it. It's cool how our school has a for day school week. We also have Spanish class. That's always fun! The parents can volunteer as much as they want at our school. We can go above our grade level if we are doing well in math and writing, which is good because students are challenged.

I have given several reasons why I think PACT is such a great school. You'll get a good education.

CCLA
Quenikki Ternoir
Age 10

C.C.L.A. has changed my life at my other school I used to say mean things to other students.  Now, I learned that saying mean things are wrong.  I like this school a lot better because at M.I.T. it was creep walking around that school.  At this school, I get welcomed from kids that have been here at C.C.L.A.  Plus we have more field trips here, and there are nice children.  I have a wonderful teacher, and a lot of cool friends.  There are no uniforms.  You can wear anything you want to wear.  And we are about to move into another huge school.  I like C.C.L.A. because There are so many things you can do. They don’t just give you a worksheet they do activites.  I really Think CCLA is the Best place to be.  The kids don’t judge you on how you dress, and we get to have every single day.  The Adults treat you as their children.  If you get in trouble, you go to the front office or you write why you do what you did wrong.  There is a lot of cool kids here.  If you get hurt five kids come to help you.  Most schools some kids don’t come to help you.  They just sit there looking at you.

Now, about Ms. O, our principal.  She’s a nice lady, makes you laugh, takes you places, and most of all she invites you to her house.  Ms. Ryan, our teacher, she nice too, although we do not do cursive it’s still okay.  Ms. Ryan is a nice lady she helps me do my work.

Middle School Division

Northern Lights Community School
Austin Koppelmann
7th grade

I would encourage a friend to come to this school because it is different from any other school I have attended. There are three things I really like about this school: physical recreation time, taking trips, and the learning environment. My favorite part of the day is recreation time, which is our physical education time. We have a variety of options to choose from during recreation time. Some of these include the YMCA, playing dodgeball in the buy, and softball outside. My favorite is going to the YMCA to play with our basketball team. We have played basketball against a Duluth team, and we lost, but it was fun going to their school and meeting new people.

One exciting part of our school is that we get to take a lot of trips. One trip I went on was the Audubon Center in Sandstone, MN. It was so much fun there. I learned how to survive in the woods and how to use a compass. We also had a low-ropes course that helped me trust other people from our school. They had very good food there, too. How I see it, on every trip you go on you learn something new. That's why I go on trips. I plan on taking more trips with my school as they are offered.

My favorite thing about my school is the learning environment. This school is project-based, so we do not have to learn right out on books all of the time. We get to choose what we learn and when we want to learn it. It is more hands-on and not so much pen-and-paper. It is a better way for me to learn that going over worksheets again and again. We are not expected to sit still and be quiet all day long. We get to talk to other people if we need help while we are working. Everyone in this school pretty much knows everyone else. Everyone has his own advisory that is kind of like a homeroom. During advisory time, we talk about what we are doing for rec. time, we journal, and talk about what is going on during the day and/or week. My advisor checks in with us every day, and if I need help he helps me. In this learning environment, I feel less stressed than my old school.

In conclusion, I would encourage a friend to come to this school. All the kids here are nice. It does not matter what you do, you are still accepted at this school. My school is fun, buy you also have to try hard and participate in order to make it fun. I am going to be at this school for the rest of my school days, and I am happy that my mom found it and let me come here.

PA School
Ana Lopez
Age 12

Are you mad at your teachers because they say they are going to teach you the right way?  Well, if you go to P.A. your live will change for ever.  The thired reason is that you will learn math.  The second reason is you well now sacail studies.  The thired reason is that P.A. is a fun school.  Here are more detaile.

The first reason is how you learn math you can learn your muitipllication you can also learn your division and you also learn prime factolization.

The second reason you can learn sacial studres.  You well learn that Crispus Attucles was the first man to get killed in the revolutiongry war.  I learn that sumerrisans lived in small mud brick house at the eage of the city. 

The last reason is why P.A. is fun.  I have more fun because the kids in the School are nice they are also good friends to you.  You can have fun because you will feel more safe.

So that is how I learn in P.A. I learned math and sacail studie also a leared to have friends. So if you went to learn more you should go to P.A. School.

Partnership Academy
Kevin Zanudo
Age 11

Are you tired of your school because it’s boring, dirty and no one will help you with your problems?  Well, I will give you three reasons why you should send your child to a charter school.  The first reason is its fun, second it’s clean, and finally you can tell our teachers if your having a problem. Ready my essay and it will tell you why you should send your child to a charter school.

The first reason why you should send your child to Partnership Academy is because they will enjoy theirselves.  At the end of the month PA has a raffle and they raffle prizes like folders.  In math we play math games like multiplication baseball.  In SFA we play vocabulary charades where you have to act out the words.  On our free time if we pass all our tests we get to play on the computers.

The second reason why you should send your child to PA is because it’s clean.  The bathrooms are cleaner than others by not having paper towels all over the floor.  The hallways are so quiet you could hear a pin drop.  The classrooms are neat and organized.  The uniforms are neat and tidy.

Finally, the last reason why you should send your child to PA is because if your having a problem you can tell one of our teachers.  If your having problems at home you can tell one of our teachers and they will help you immediately.  If someone is picking on or bugging your child the teachers will make sure that it stops.  Finally our teachers will do their best to help you with any problems, just like your part of their family.

These are my three reasons why you should send your child to PA.  The first reason is because your child will enjoy theirselfs, second is it’s clean and finally if your having a problem you can tell one of teachers.  I think the choice is clear that PA is the way to go.

High School Division

Northern Lights Community School
Nathaniel Hassell
Age 15

Hi, my name is Nathaniel Hassell and I attend Northern Lights Community School in Warba, Minnesota. I am starting my high school years at Northern Lights as a ninth grader. I wanted to participate in this essay contest because I wanted to share how my first year at a charter school has changed my life.

In fall of 2005 Northern Lights opened and has given students a new opportunity to be educated in a non traditional school environment. I am excited to be one of the students involved in the first year at Northern Lights. My school is a project based charter school in which I have a big part in how I want to learn and still meet all the high school graduation standards.

At my old school I was tested for learning disabilities and my parents realized with the results I was going to struggle in my learning. Being placed in special classes made me feel dislocated from my friends and fellow classmates. I managed the adjustment but in either grade I was retested and passed by only just barely. They placed me back into mainstream and I was lost easily and struggled once again. My mom fought the system to get help for me in high school but lost the battle. Now it was my decision on where to go when we heard about the new charter school opening. All she asked me to do is give it my best and she would back me up. I chose Northern Lights.

I now have a say in how I learn and what I learn. I can take my time and I do not feel lost. I am comfortable in my learning. Classes are smaller and Advisors are very supportive. My grades have greatly improved and I am succeeding in being the best I can be. I feel good about myself. I am not being compared to my brother and sister who succeeded in their ways, I am me and the staff appreciates me for who I am and are there to help me succeed in my ways. I am glad I made this choice because I am succeeding I ways I did not see myself before.