Why TV News is Dead.

http://www.cgpgrey.com/blog/why-tv-news-is-a-waste-of-human-effort-one-video-is-worth-a-trillion-dollars

Project 4 Awesome sample video

#21 Project for Awesome

The Project for Awesome is a web-based initiative started by John and Hank Green. The idea behind the Project for Awesome is to create an entire day where youtubers upload videos about their favourite charities and social action groups. During the day, the Federation  to Decrease World-Suck (the company the brothers founded for this day of action) collects donations which go to the top five videos as voted by the community. In 2011 they raised $71,000 but this year the amount ballooned to over $450,000. This initiative doesn't just make people aware of various charities and causes, it also challenges people to actively campaign on the charity's behalf

#20 The Sound of Barely Frozen Puddles When You Step on Them

On the farm, this happens quite a lot. Oftentimes after the first big freeze there are hundreds of these frozen puddles which my brothers and I stomp on with merciless pleasure. These are sounds that resonate with the good times I've spent with my brothers and my dog, and they're sounds I'll remember when I look back on the days of yore, the days when snow and ice existed in southwestern ontario.
Plus it's so darn satisfying.

#19 Peer to Peer

I would like to be included in Peer to Peer next semester. After the first two sessions, I think it went incredibly well, and I'm convinced that there's a lot more we can do to educate grade 9's and of course, continue the conversation. I also believe that as someone who has never tried drugs/alcohol, I can offer a unique perspective that should be represented in this program.

#18 The Most Important Characteristic

There are many important things we look for in a leader, honesty, charisma, speaking skills, but I believe the most important characteristic in a leader is the ability to put others before themselves and truly lead others, not themselves. Many leaders these days don't do that. Across the world, we see many "leaders" who only "lead" by creating laws or situations that benefit them, and them alone. The true leaders are those who place other's interests over theirs, those who help others who are less fortunate than them, and those who are willing to compromise with others for the good of all people.
Are the "leaders" in the American Congress doing this? Are the "leaders" in Canadian Parliament doing this?
I don't think so.

#17 Ford and Fontana

Rob Ford and Joe Fontana should both lose their jobs. Both of them stole from taxpayers, and that should come with consequences. When a breach of trust that involves thousands of dollars being taken occurs, jail time should be taken into consideration. While I personally believe that Fontana deserves jail time and Ford doesn't (I legitimately believe that Ford had no idea that this contribution to "charity" was illegal), there is one thing I know for sure: neither of them should continue to serve as the leaders of the citizens they betrayed.

#16 "Sissie Stuff"

Hasn't it always been this way? Haven't leadership positions in high school traditionally been dominated by women over the past few years? That's what I initially thought when I read this article. Then I realized that more and more women are entering parliament and congress, replacing the roles of men. I don't have a problem with this. I think the reason that this is occurring is that in recent years, young women have been encouraged to go out, prove themselves, and show the world what they're made of. This message has not been directed towards men. In fact, young teenage men are feeling that there are less and less places that they can go that aren't "girlie" and for men, doing anything that could remotely be considered girlie is considered toxic. I believe that since getting involved in anything is becoming a "girl's thing" less and less men want to get involved in anything else.

#15

Before the break, we need to make a plan to "normalize" the next two years.
This includes trying to run a dance, setting up intramurals, and starting to see if we can have things like carni-b-que. This year, we need to make sure people have a year that is as enjoyable as possible, while working around this labour issue.
The time to plan is NOW. And we'll need all the help we can get from next semester's leadership class to achieve our goal.

#14 Leadership and Morality

People in Leadership do not display morals. As someone who would like a position in federal politics, this is worrying. I want to be a moral leader that espouses traits that others would like to have, in addition to my (possible) future role as a politician. But from Rob Ford and Joe Fontana misappropriating money for their own uses, the recent use of an unconstitutional law to silence teachers, and the numerous scandals that have stemmed from the Harper administration, we are not seeing morality in the leaders of this country.
Meanwhile, less and less people are voting in municipal, provincial, and federal elections. I believe that people are fed up with the lack of leaders who they can truly trust and are turning away from the polls. In order to save our country from apathy, we need a leader that espouses morality and truly believes in their ideas.

#13: Part 2

I had three goals when I entered parliament
1) Bring Backpacks Back.
2) More buyouts with more varied sports.
3) Meeting of local student councils.

We will have to work on these. I meant every word I said. In the near future we need to figure out how to bus students to a football and (hopefully) volleyball game. After that we can work out the other two as we move along. Can't wait to have this talk Monday.

#12: Leadership

Leadership has been great so far, and I think every school should run something like this if schools want to keep doing the events that we do. I think that although we've put on great events, we need to focus on making a positive cultural change in our school more. Other than that, things have been great.

#11: Stairclimb

IDCI loves Stairclimb. The reason is because it's something that belongs to us. It's part of our identity. We always win Stairclimb, and we want to keep that going because it's who we are. I also think it shows the amount of spirit students have for IDCI. I think because we live in such a small town with so little to do, school events carry so mic more importance to us.
I think there's nothing we need to do to change how we promote Stairclimb. It's such an established event that it doesn't need to be slammed down everyone's throats. We promoted it enough, and the Bombers just did the rest.
(P.S. next year we should sell spirit wear again. That was a great idea)

#10: Bullies need help, not bars.

In order to work out this bullying problem, we cannot hand out criminal charges. If we did that, these bullies who are probably already hurting from mistreatment may not be able to leave the country, or get work as a teacher after they learn lessons. The answer is simple: help.
Now, I also believe the victim should receive help, but the bully needs to learn. They need to be rehabilitated. And guess what? It is possible.
At Waldorf, the kid who bullied me in Grade 4 would be labeled a "problem kid". He was bounced from school to school without a care for his own feelings. While he did initially start bullying, it soon stopped. Why? He was treated like a person by his teachers, not like a monster. He found acceptance for the first time. And by talking calmly about what happened over my Grade 4 year, he became a better person.
As hard as it is to accept, these people are human. They are not emotionless drones. They seek acceptance like everyone else. They need to heal, instead of there wounds being dug deeper.

#9: Challenge Day

Challenge day was an amazing event. I believe that all schools should do it and we have a responsibility to our broken generation to spread its message. We need to keep up this message this year, but not too much so people are desensitized to its message. If there's one thing I wish we could've done this half of the semester, it would be continuing to spread the message. I think we should start with what do you want to do with your life and see what happens. We should do instead of talking about doing. Challenge day is meant to challenge us, and although challenges are hard, we need to commit.

#8: Amanda Todd

Bullying sucks. Period. The worst year and a half of my life was when I was bullied in grade 4. On a daily basis, getting called names at school is terrible and no one should have to go through that.

However, I can't imagine receiving that at home, and I can't imagine the embarrassment that occurred when the pictures that Amanda Todd sent to a guy were seen by many at her school and passed around without a care in the world. Then she was blackmailed, and now we know that those pictures will be on the internet forever.
The fact that even now people are criticizing her for one mistake she made makes me sick. It is really too bad that it (as Taylor said) "took a straight, white, attractive girl to make people notice" when so many homosexual and unattractive people commit suicide, but at least people are taking notice. Wouldn't it be worse if no one did?

I think that this year, we really need to keep the challenge day spirit alive. Things like Challenge day stop this from happening, and we need to continue to promote it to neighboring schools.

#7: We need to stand up.

I first saw this video a week ago and it is simply great. I'm incredibly glad she said this message in an honest way. She did not shy away from her true feelings, she just went out and said them.
She did what we need to do to fight bullying: stand up. If we stand up to the mean things people say, it helps garner the support of bystanders and others who normally wouldn't care. I'm also immensely happy this has gone viral since this gives that message of standing up to anyone who has been bullied.

#6 Mitt and Barack

American citizens, as they are every four years, are faced with an important choice. Who will be the next President of the United States? To many in the United States, this is a difficult choice, but to me, it is a clear choice. In terms of charisma, Obama's powerful speaking voice and "hip" image beats out Mitt Romney trying to be folksy while trying to pull off the experienced businessman, in an age in which the one percent are disliked more and more. At a time in history in which the federal deficit of the United states is at a breaking point, I think it's irresponsible that both candidates have plans that will lower taxes, but at the same time, at least Obama will raise taxes for the rich to justify lowering them for the middle class, while Mitt will simply cut taxes for the rich without even giving a justification. I also find Mitt's social programs that target women troubling in a modern society. Mitt may want to say that Obama was unable to work with the government, but the Republicans refused to work with him during his entire tenure as President. If the United States elects a united democratic caucus, than I do see a bright future for America. However, judging from the polls looking at the House of Representatives, we may have four more years of finger-pointing and badgering. These politicians need to spend more time working, than working on getting the right to work from the citizens.

#1-5 (Now Complete!)

To get this out of the way, the reason I posted this on my old blog is because it contains the thoughts and feelings of my Grade 8-9 self. I don't know if you'll ever look at my other stuff, but I find it interesting to look at myself two years ago, because although this person is technically the same person as me, the High School experience really has made me into a different person. So if you're interested in checking out you may, since I never post there anymore.

#1: I feel like this could only be used after an event like challenge day, or even if the death of a student occurs in the years ahead. This can only be done if people take it seriously, and during a time when the atmosphere of the school is conducive to an experiment like this.

#2: You realize that there is no video embedded, so I can't respond to something that isn't there. If it's the educational TEDtalk we saw in class a few days ago, I'd love to see more stuff like that. It reminded me about everything I dislike about public schools when compared to Waldorf education. The individuality that is constantly preached as well as the break-up of the constant monotony that public education stumbles into is what sets Waldorf education apart.

#3: For thanksgiving I would be glad to take in a Turkey from our farm for those to gawk and marvel at. The only problem would be poo, so it we would have to have newspapers. We may be able to provide food if anyone wants to do a turkey dinner.

#4: I think that during challenge day, in order to get people when we have vacancies, we should compile a list of possible candidates beforehand in order to make fill them as quickly as possible. We shouldn't necessarily have people who really want to go, but people who need to go. I think we should have homeroom teachers nominate one or two students who didn't go last year who would get something from the experience. That way, we have a wide spectrum of students participating from all facets of the IDCI population.

#5:
To Waldorf,

It's been awhile since we've been together, but I still think about you everyday. The school I'm at now is pretty different, but it really makes me appreciate the differences in your teaching. It shows me that the tiny details (such as the walls for the halls and bathrooms being painted bright, friendly colours) help create an environment which appreciates individuality and creativity. I thank you for the balance between academics, phys-ed, and art that you provided, compared to a system which barely lets art and creativity into classrooms. Thank you for continuing to inspire me with the values, creativity, and love of the world you instilled in me.

The Very Best,

Davis