Hola

Hello everyone, I hope you've been having an enjoyable summer.
For those of you who don't know me, I'm Justin Brooks and I'm actually new to the program. An offer went out to some of the Sophomore English classes in order to attract new members into the Journalism 2 class. I've always liked politics and current events and all those sorts of things, so I took it up. It sounded like a lot of fun, I like to read the newspaper whenever possible, so an opportunity to actually write in one will be exciting.
But for now, I'm working on getting all of community service hours out of the way in one shot. I get to go to the Placer Nature Center up near Auburn every day for a week and be what is essentially a camp counselor. It's actually a lot of fun, we get a ton of kids who all come to be taught about nature. I enjoy it a ton, the kids are all energetic and eager, their passion for this stuff really spreads and I'm having a blast. It's a pretty small place, just a few trails, but it's enough to get outside and really appreciate nature. We get to do arts and crafts, hikes, and all sorts of other fun things. Just today, I got to put on a puppet show, I like to think I was pretty good, but the audiance(6-8 years old) was pretty forgiving. So through things like puppet shows, we let the kids interact with nature, allowing them to really get into the experience. In all honesty, I'm probably learning just as much about nature as them. The camp goes into a lot of details about mammals, producers, consumers, birds, insects, and everything else about nature. So I get to enjoy working with the outdoors and I get to learn all sorts of new things about my own environment. Overall, I just think it's good to educate the children and it's healthy to get out of my room and away from my computer for a while over the summer, so it's good for everyone. It's also very refreshing to talk to these kids who have no problem with letting their opinion be known. Unlike adults, who are often afraid of offending someone or causing problems, children will say whatever crosses their minds. A lot of them cannot believe that humans trash their world without a second thought. They want to treat the world right, and they are in no way afraid to say how. I just find it to be nice, especially since this is such a big issue and a lot of people are afraid to truly speak their mind. In a lot of ways, I wish everyone was just like them. If you have an idea, just blurt it out. And if you believe something, then say it, and don't try to tiptoe around the issue, just in case someone disagrees.
So, I know I'm having fun and I hope you're all having a great time, I look forward to talking to you all soon.