The Inauguration of Barack Obama

Last Tuesday, the inauguration of our 44th President took place in Washington, D.C. Other former presidents like President George W. Bush and President Clinton were at the inauguration. John McCain was there at the inauguration, also. John McCain is the person who ran for president against Obama, but lost.

Almost four million people were there. All the important people in the U.S. were there on the special day in Washington, D.C. Obama gave a really good speech. He talked about how people should not fight. He also wants there to be peace in the world. He also talked about people who have lost their jobs. There were so many gaurds there.

Our class was watching the inauguration on our class T.V. It was fun. There was lots of flags there. We liked seeing all of the important people. It was also neat to see our first black president take the oath of office.

Later in the evening, we saw Obama and his wife dancing at the Inaugural Balls. Obama promised his kids they could get a new puppy.

Written by Zachary and Christina

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Although we don't officially celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day until Monday, we have been studying him in our classroom this week. Today is his birthday. Here are some things we learned about him.

We learned that when Martin was little he couldn't play with his white friend because there were Jim Crow laws that meant that black people couldn't play with white people.

When he was going home from a speech contest, Martin had to stand on the bus for 90 miles when white people were going to sit down in the bus.

When Martin was older, white people didn't like him speaking out, so they bombed his house in one night.

One day Rosa Parks had a very long day and sat down at the front of the bus and then some white people were going to sit down where she was sitting and the bus driver said "Get off of the seat." She refused. Then the bus driver said, "I will call the police if you don't get off right now." She said, "Go ahead and call them," and she went to jail.

The black people decided to boycott the buses in Montgomery. The boycott lasted for 381 days.

Martin gave a speech that was called, "I Have a Dream." It was said in Washinton D.C.

One day he went to Tennessee about a problem and after that he went out to the balcony of his hotel and got shot. His friend was beside him protecting him. He died one hour later in the hospital.

We honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. since that happened and he changed history forever.

Written by Nicole and Martin

Christmas Presents

The 3rd grade got many wonderful things for Christmas. Here are some of the things we received.

Mrs. Forcey - The Willow Tree Nativity Set

Emily V. - $40 gift card to Build-a-Bear

Stephen - Skateboard

Nicole - An American Girl Doll - Mia

Emily S. - An ipod

Mikey - Rock Band II

Sarah - A new bike

Andrew - A remote control airplane

Lauro - A toy robot

Martin - Rock Band II

Mark - Guitar Hero World Tour

Maryanna - An art set

Marisa - DS

Lisa - A keyboard

Erin - A Wii

Noah - ?

Diego - Baseball cards

Miranda - Disney Sing It

Jessica - A gold jacket

Cassandra - A guitar and lessons

Tyler - Bakugon

Marcus - Video camera

Isaiah - Guitar Hero World Tour

Victoria - An art studio

Sara - A big jewelry box

Annabelle - Nail polish set with fake nails

Paolo - A rip stick

Christina - A scrapbook

Esteban - A glass chess piece set

Zachary - Wii music

It looks like the 3rd grade had a wonderful Christmas!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! Here is what we did over our Christmas Vacation.

Mrs. Forcey - I took Evan to the museum. I took Hudson to get ice cream.

Zachary - My crazy friend came over to my house almost every day.

Esteban - I went to Mexico.

Christina - I went to Virginia and Washington D.C.

Paolo - I had my aunt and uncle come over.

Annabelle - I learned how to ski.

Sara - I went to my grandma's.

Victoria - I went to my grandpa's.

Isaiah - We went to the snow and had a snowball fight.

Marcus - My little nephew came over and we had a snowball fight at the snow.

Tyler - I went to my grandma and grandpa's.

Cassandra - I went my friend's in the mountains and we saw deer tracks in the snow.

Jessica - My family came over for Christmas.

Miranda - I went to Shaver Lake and played in the snow.

Diego - I went to my cousin's house for five days.

Noah - I got carsick going to the snow.

Erin - I went to the snow with my cousin, and my cousin went skiing with me.

Lisa - I made chocolate covered almonds.

Marisa - I had a party at my house.

Maryanna - I went to my cousin's house.

Mark - I went to the snow, and I went down on my sled and accidentally hit my mom at the bottom of the hill.

Martin - I went to my cousin's house.

Lauro - I went to the movies.

Andrew - I rode my go-cart, my quad, and my motorcycle.

Sarah - I baked cookies.

Mikey - I had an awesome birthday party.

Emily S. - I stayed home and played on my Wii, and my two uncles and aunts came over.

Nicole - I went to State Beach and Shell Beach.

Stephen - I went to the snow and watched my friend jump off a log with a fast sled.

Emily V. - I went horse back riding in Hawaii.

We hope you all had a wonderful new year!

St. Juan Diego

Today is the day of the feast of St. Juan Diego. Juan Diego had a wife who died. Then he became a widower. Juan Diego was walking 14 miles to Mass when he met a beautiful lady. The lady requested a shrine where she was standing. She told him that she was Mary Immaculate. She said to go and tell the Bishop for permission to build a shrine. The bishop did not believe Juan Diego. He asked for a sign that she was Mary.

Juan Diego went to go tell Mary to give him a sign, but his uncle was very ill. Mary had told him to come the next day, but he couldn't because he had to look out for his uncle. The next day he felt embarrassed because he did not come the day before. His uncle was dying, and Juan Diego was going to get a priest. On the way he met Mary again.

She said that he shouldn't worry about his uncle, and that he would be safe. She said to use his cloak to go get roses from the old rock and take them to the Bishop. She arranged the flowers in his cloak, and he went to go show the Bishop. The Bishop was surprised to find roses in winter. As he let the roses fall to the floor, a picture of Mary Immaculate appeared on his cloak. The Bishop felt sorry for not believing him, and he fell to his knees and prayed for Mary's forgiveness.

A shrine was built as Mary requested. Juan Diego's cloak is still seen at the church: it's color is unfaded to this day. We celebrate this day for St. Juan Diego, who was cannonized on July 31, 2002 by Pope John Paul II.

Written by Lauro and Emily S.

St. Nicholas

Saint Nicholas is the patron Saint of our class. St. Nicholas's feast day is December 6th. St.Nicholas gave our class candy on his feast day! St. Nicholas is known for leaving gifts for children. One of St. Nicholas's stories is about when he gave the father of three daughters three bags of gold. They needed the gold so the father would have a dowery to give to the grooms. Three bags of gold, three girls, and three gold balls are symbols related to St. Nicholas. St.Nicholas is now named Santa Claus in the United States.

Written by Stephen and Sarah S.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

This morning the entire school celebrated Mass together in honor of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. This is a special feast day to honor Mary. She was born without sin because God knew ahead of time that she was going to be the mother of his son. All other people were born with Original Sin, but Mary was pure. God later sent the Angel Gabriel to ask Mary to be the mother of Jesus. Mary said "Yes." Also on this day we honor the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. They are a model for everyone in how to love God.

Written by the 3rd grade class.