My heroes

Nurses are my heroes

My mom is a nurse.  She helps us not get sick.  She works in the emergency department in the hospital, so she helps a LOT of different people, at different times.  During the snowstorm, she stayed at the hospital for 3 days to take care of people!  She helps people not die.  That is REALLY important work! — by Henry Bennett-Murphy, second grade, TLC

My heroes

Think about it—police are our heroes, what would happen without them?  They risk their lives for us and the people in the community, like firefighters risk their lives for us.  If someone got robbed or shot, the police might have to catch the robber even though it’s dangerous.  Police are brave! — by Charlie Edwards, second grade at TLC

I think a firefighter is a hero because they put out fires and that helps people live.  Once I went to a firehouse with my class.  They taught me how everything works.  It was so cool! When I was there, they had an alarm and they were REALLY fast! — by Walker Compton, second grade at TLC

Heroes

I appreciate firefighters because they work really hard to save people and put out fires. They also help people who have been in a fire or in an airplane when they crash.  Firefighters even help when there are car accidents.  When bad things happen, I’m glad we have firefighters. — by Alex Forehand, second grade at TLC

Community

We need to appreciate EVERYONE in our community who help make it a better place to be and live.  Like the police and firefighters who give up their time to help others.  Teachers, who give education to children who need to learn.  Foster parents, who take children home and care for them.  Every job is really important to everyone! — by Taylor Conklin, second grade at TLC

Community problems

I think Asheville is a great place, but there is one problem that I have been seeing often, people paying too much attention to their phones.  Once I saw a mother downtown pushing a baby in a stroller, but she was on her phone and not able to notice our beautiful downtown.  I have seen that in restaurants too, where families or friends are paying attention to their phones and not the the people they went to the restaurant with!  So I think we should turn off our phones and notice our beautiful world! — by Addie Ruth Ellison, third grade at TLC

Littering

In our community, I think there is too much littering.  I think people who are making this mistake should stop and think about what they are doing.  I think people shouldn't litter because it affects animals, plants, and other people, because someone might throw a wrapper in your yard.  For example, one time I was getting out of the car from school and I saw a wrapper in our lavender bush!  And sometimes, maybe when it's starting to be springtime, you see little tulip sprouts, but there's an empty chip bag on them.  How I think we can stop littering:  though I don't think we can stop littering completely, some of us can pitch in and help.  Maybe over the weekend you could go around and pick up trash in your own neighborhood.  — By Ivy Anderson, third grade, TLC

What is community?

To me community is a group of people, but it’s not just a group a people, it’s people who care for each other and are willing to lend a hand when needed.  Neighborhoods, soccer and baseball teams,  ballet, martial arts, gymnastic studios, and schools are all communities.  I have to admit I really wish I contributed to the community more often, although that doesn’t mean I don’t.  I have gone to help at Manna Food Bank, Black Mountain Neuro Treatment Center, Highland Farms, and the Asheville Humane Society. 

There aren’t just good things in our community, there are also problems, for instance homelessness, littering, and lost pets.  These are not specific to our community, they exist in just about every town or city.  We all need to help out by contributing to places that help others, like Brother Wolf Animal Rescue does in Asheville.  That’s also why we need people like my dad, who makes healthy mattresses.  Why would this be important, you might ask?  Have you ever known someone who has to sleep on the floor or has and an old or moldy mattress?  People need good mattresses to be healthy and my dad’s are made from all natural materials.  There are all kinds of jobs that make life better for community, and each one is important. — by Zinnia Marquis, third grade at TLC

My heroes (a poem)
My heroes are the volunteers
that do not brag or boast.
They may carry around trash bags and grabbers.
Do you know who they are, these secret savers
of our world, our one world?
The people that pick up the trash,
that love our community, that respect it.
These are my heroes.
They are those people that think about others,
not themselves.
They care for animals
and the outdoors.
They love all creatures, big or small.
Whatever they do matters to me.
They recycle, they compost,
they love, they care.
They are the angels of the earth.
They work quietly and hard,
strong and clear.
Hopefully, they open doors and windows
in your mind. — by Johari Baschnagel, fourth grade, TLC

In our world, littering is a huge problem.  People around Asheville throw their garbage in places they should not.  You know you’ve at least done it once or twice.  Some people just throw their stuff on the ground without even caring.  When one person litters, it’s just one piece of trash, but if many people litter, it accumulates and will blow around and get run over by cars.  When it blows off the road, animals may think it’s food and eat it.  But then the animal could get sick or die.  If you see someone littering, you can speak up and tell them it’s wrong.  If you see litter on the ground, pick it up and put it in its rightful place.  If you do that, you can make the world a cleaner and better place for animals and people. — by Dean Gorelik, fourth grade at TLC

My hero

My hero in my community is my guitar teacher, Ms. Annie.  She teaches so well, and is nice and funny.  She also plays and teaches piano.  She is such a good teacher, that after just a month of practice, I’m really good.  I really like how friendly and non-strict she is.  It’s a blast when I go to lessons and practice with her.  She looks on her computer and finds jazz music chords and makes a song for me to play.  She even makes up songs for me to play and makes them fun.  She teaches lots of people, and once you learn how to play music, you can enjoy playing your whole life. — by Jackson Zeh, fourth grade at TLC