Hi! It's Zoe. This past week I have been campaigning for my school's student council. I have been running for President, the most important position. I had to work hard, even getting into debating, and I'm happy with the way things have gone so far. 

First, to even get accepted as a candidate, I had to write an essay on what I would do for the school as President. I put a lot of thought into this, and I decided on a couple of things as my campaign promises. Here's my essay I wrote to run as a candidate:

                                                                     My Presidential Candidate Statement

                                                                                           By Zoe Benham

Fellow Canterbury students:

          If I were voted president, I would aim to make Canterbury a better place. One of my biggest interests would be to change the bullying situation that has started here in our school. Even if it's a little bullying problem, I want everyone to know it's okay to tell a teacher or adult. I also want to emphasize the importance of  telling a teacher or adult about witnessing bullying. This is a problem everywhere and I think we should stop it here and now at Canterbury. We should stop the bullying  before it starts.

          My next interest would be to involve everyone in charity service. Many of my classmates and I have been introduced to a math program called Think Through Math,here you go through lessons and do math tests. During these lessons and tests you earn points and are ranked top 20 in class, school, and state. With these points you can make an avatar or donate to a charity. I think that we should take advantage of this ability to donate. If you vote for me to be your next school president, I promise to push for a fund raising program in which the class that raises the most money will get a pizza party or popcorn and pickle with a movie during class. After a lot of studying the math website and a few calls to their help desk, I have found how we can calculate the money donated so this would be a fair contest. I want Canterbury to be involved in helping those in need.

          I hope you will consider my campaigning platforms, in which I fully support  a “No Bullying Program” and a “Charity Service Contest”. Please, cast your vote for Zoe Benham for President.



After I wrote this, I made some posters to put up around the school to remind people I was running for President and encourage them to vote for me. I was excited because earlier, my mommy and I bought some really pretty things to put on them that made my posters pop! Then we made some flyers, a piece of paper with my name and picture on it, to hand out to people. My daddy came up with the idea to put a optical allusion on them to make them appear to be moving and make them unique in the hope people would keep them and show them to their friends.  And last, but not least, we made some cute stickers that everyone wanted. 

Though there is a lot of tough competition, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best. I know I tried my best and that's what counts. Wish me luck! Bye!

 Hi! It's Zoe. Last weekend I made a dinner all by myself! Like the cookfest I wrote about in a previous blog, I chopped, stirred, and cooked dinner, but this time I was the cook. I cooked for the family all by myself except with the draining of hot liquids, my mommy did that. I was very excited to see what the outcome would be. 

When I asked my Mommy to make a dinner plan she suggested spaghetti and meatballs. I was a little hesitant because I wanted to do an ethnic meal and I thought spaghetti and meatballs was too easy. I decided to do it because I thought it might be harder to make than I think. I was right. 

The recipe I got from my Mommy was supposed to be an "easy" version. It was harder than I thought. A few times I didn't know what the recipe was saying to do, like sauteing, which is a way of cooking food. I started to get the hang of it. I had to saute onions and bell pepper and garlic together in a pan with olive oil.  I felt like I was the boss of the kitchen.

I had to mix stuff like eggs, breadcrumbs, the sauteed vegetables, and spices together with the ground beef. We made jumbo cheesy meatballs (the sizes of small oranges) that were stuffed with mozzarella cheese inside them and we baked them in the oven until they were done. When I was done making them, I started on the sauce. It was much easier than I thought it would be. We make our sauce from scratch mixing ingredients together and letting it simmer a long time. 

Soon it was time for dinner and I was nervous to see how the family liked my food. To my relief, it was a success and everybody liked it! I was ready to make another meal. I like cooking because I've been helping my Mommy in the kitchen since I was very young. Though your parents might not want you to do that much in the kitchen right now, ask them if you can help out when they are cooking. There might be a stirring, mixing, or washing vegetables job you can do. And always remember two of the most important rules when cooking: keep good hygiene (wash your hands and don't put them near your face), and clean as you go so there's not a big mess at the end! Thanks for reading. Bye!

P.S. Here's the link to the recipe for Jumbo Cheesy Meatballs.

Hi! It's Zoe. The past several weeks it has been raining where I live. Did you know every minute one billion tons of rain falls to Earth! Anyway, this rainfall has caused me to stay indoors a lot and be even more creative. So, for the past few weeks I have been making and selling duck tape wallets. I have learned how to figure out my profits, after costs, and to sell my product to people convincing them it wasn't a run-of-the-mill wallet. 

When I first made a duck tape wallet I did it because I thought it would be a cool thing to have. My first one didn't turn out so good, so I decided to look up, on the Internet, a way to make them. I found a great tutorial and I started making them in a flash. But, I only had four types of duck tape, and it was getting boring. I asked my Daddy if he would take me to buy some more tape, and he said yes, though, I would have to pay him back. we bought some of the more popular patterns, like, bacon, mustaches, and camouflage. The total costs for materials was about $15 dollars. I think that's a lot of money just for materials, but I believed I could pay it back with my profits. What I learned was that my total sales minus the costs of supplies would equal my profits. I was so excited to start my small business! 

Even though I would probably make some profit, I mostly did this to practice being an entrepreneur. Some business rules I created for myself are, I always stick to my rate, and I never give my product to a person without them paying for it first. 

Over time, I made my wallets more desirable by adding pockets inside them and different color interiors. I also created a business card with reasonable promises for my buyers, like repairing the wallets for free and giving commissions to people who refer customers to me. Sometimes, I get special requests. With all these promises and requests, my business is skyrocketing, and it was all thanks to great management! 

This great business was created one rainy day. I can't wait to see where it leads. Bye!