Hi! It's Zoe. Today I'd like to talk about something I started at school called a "petition". My petition was about starting a girls only Four Square court. Four Square is a game played with a rubber ball and four squares. It's popular at my school. I decided I needed 70 signatures for my petition so the school administration would see that a majority of the 5th grade agreed with my statement. Speaking about my statement, I made a page that showed why I wanted this petition, who was doing the petition, and signature lines. Here's a copy of it.  
 

After drafting this petition with the help of my daddy, I decided to get started with my signatures. It was surprising to see how many kids were agreeing to this, and it wasn't only girls, it was boys too! By the end of the first day, 46 people had signed. The next day it was harder to find people who hadn't already signed the petition and wanted to sign it. In the end, I barely found all 70 signatures I needed, but I did. At the end of the day, I brought the petition to my coach and she agreed that a girls-only four square court was a good idea! Better yet, the teacher who runs the Canterbury Knights News (my school's news center) overheard my conversation and he said he would announce the petition on the school's news broadcast the next day! 

Interestingly, after a few days of girls-only four square some boys wanted to play on the girls four square. So we made a compromise. Instead of an all boys and all girls four square court, we made "beginner" and "advance" courts because the real issue all along was that some of the bigger boys played too hard and it never allowed other kids the opportunity to play. The best part was that by the end of the week everybody was happy with the changes and the problem was solved! 

Do you have something you would like to change in your school, neighborhood, or community? A petition might solve the problem. I know it solved mine. Bye!

Hi! It's Zoe. I have a quick update I'd like to share with you. In my last blog, I wrote about running for Student Council President. I didn't win, but I am happy with the person that did get it, and I know that our school will have a successful year. I'm going to be very busy this year. One of the things I did get chosen to participate in is called D.I. or Destination Imagination. 

DI is a group of kids that are handed a problem that has to be solved with creativity and teamwork. You are scored on these things and the top team will go on to State and then to Globals. My school won global once, and this year, I'd like to lead my team to another one. 

The DI tryouts were held on a Saturday. Although, the teachers were expecting 100 or more kids to tryout, less than 25 showed up! I think just having the tryouts on a weekend was a good choice because it meant only the serious kids would show up.  One of the rules for DI is this, if you drop out or get kicked off the team, they can't replace you, so the team would suffer by being a person short.

DI has another rule too. The team cannot receive any help from a teacher or parent or anyone not part of the team. It's about pure teamwork. Teachers are there only to supervise. Sometimes, they will work around the rule, and get ideas to you craftily. Though most kids don't like this rule, I like it because it can test how creative the teams are coming up with their own ideas. 

With two years of experience, I know what can happen in DI. Two years ago my team placed second in a local tournament. We had lost by six points out of 340. But by pure luck, a raffle was held for an alternate team and my team was picked! We went to state and sadly placed 3rd out of 12 in the rankings. I believe we can blame our lack of teamwork that day. This showed us how things could go from good to bad. This year I'm hoping we show great teamwork and go on to win.

If your school has a DI or Rising Stars group, don't be afraid to join. Never stop the creativity! Bye!

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!

Hi! It's Zoe. Last Friday it rained while I was at school, and when we went outside to get picked up it had stopped raining. One of the teachers asked some of us if we wanted a kitten. First, I thought he was joking, but then he lead us to a small, wet kitten that he had found and had put in a dry place to shelter it from the rain. When my parents arrived to pick me up I asked them if we could take it home and care for it. They said yes! I was so happy! 

When we got home, my daddy and I came up with the perfect name for the kitten, Raindrop, because she is small and she was found shortly after it had rained. We put Raindrop in my mommy's bathroom because it is the safest place to keep her. With this done, we went to the closest pet store and got her a tiny baby bottle made for kittens and kitten baby formula to feed her.

At the pet store, we learned how to take care of her. She has to be fed eight times a day or every three hours! This included during the night. When they told us this I knew it was going to take more work than I expected to take care of Raindrop. 
When we got home from the pet store, I fed Raindrop the kitten formula. She was so hungry. After she had enough milk, we had to burp her just like a baby. It was so cute. She fell asleep on my daddy's shoulder. (see the picture below)

Soon after we fed her, we made her a little bed with a heating blanket underneath a towel, to keep her warm, she feel asleep immediately, while my mommy sang "Raindrops Are Falling On My Head" to her.

Later, I made her a play house with cardboard and hot glue, making improvements here and there, until I had a finished product that she loves! (watch the video below with her in the playhouse)

I have fun playing with Raindrop, and I've learned many interesting things with this experience. But most importantly, we hope to find Raindrop a nice and loving home soon. Bye!  

Hi! It's Zoe. Last weekend I got glasses. They have thick red frames with something called cat eyes design because of their slanted sides. It was interesting to see the world in a whole new way.

At first, I thought I didn't need glasses because I was so used to seeing blurry and I thought it was how people saw the world. But over time my vision started to get worse and we went to see the optometrist (a fancy word for eye doctor).

At the optician's  office, I had to go through many tests to see how bad my eyesight was and find out if I needed glasses. the doctor said my left eye was a "1" and my right eye was a "2", meaning I had poor eyesight! It was funny because my brother had his eyes checked the same day and he has 20/20 vision, that means perfect eyesight. The optometrist prescribed glasses and my mommy and daddy helped me find a pair that I liked.

When we got home I quickly put on the glasses and saw everything in such detail! I could see every leaf on every tree and every single blade of grass. It was a wonderful experience.

On the first day of school, I was a bit nervous about what people would think about my new glasses, but people said that they thought they were nice, or the glasses looked good on me. I was relieved they thought these things.

So, if you ever get glasses, don't be afraid about what people are going think. Enjoy how wonderful the world will look when you can see everything clearly. It might be better than you expect. Bye!

Hi! It's Zoe. During this summer, I have been on my electronics much more than I am supposed to be, so I decided to get creative. I have since made many fun things with my family and friends with the help of a book my grandmother gave me called, 365 Things to Make and Do. 

Scientists say that art triggers the creative part of our brain, causing us to become more original, or that's how I understand it. They also say that kids, like me and you, get better grades if they're exposed to art at an early age. 

Yesterday, I made a pinata with my friend, Isabella. We decided to save it for another day, but here's how we made it.

The Things Your Need:

• Balloon
• Newspaper
• Flour
• Water
• Scissors
• Decorating materials: paint, markers, stickers,
• Bowl
• String

We blew up the balloon. The we mixed flour and water together in the bowl until it looked like thick cream. We ripped the newspaper into strips and pulled each piece through the flour mixture to get it completely covered. And we spread these pieces across the balloon. It was really messy, but that's the fun part. Here's a tip: As you put the strips on the balloon to cover it up, don't overlap them too much because it will take longer to dry. Also, you want to leave a small space on the balloon that's not covered because when the paper dries you'll pop the balloon by pricking the uncovered area and filling the balloon with stuff. 

The really fun part comes when you get to decorate the balloon however you want. We added paint, stickers, ribbons. The brighter the balloon the more festive it looks.  And the last thing to add is the candy! Hang your pinata somewhere where it's safe to hit it with a stick. 

Like I said, I'm saving our pinata for later. Maybe, I'll have my friends over for a end-of-summer party and we will hit it then. Sounds like fun, right? 

This is just one fun activity you can do this summer. Remember, being creative can make you healthy and happy. Bye!

Hi! It's Zoe. Summer has now started and I'd like to talk about the dangers of the sun's rays. I don't want anybody getting hurt by sunburn or something even more serious. Here are some neat tips I found on a helpful website.

One way to protect your skin is not to be outside during the sun's peak hours, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.. These times will burn your skin much faster. When you are in the sun always have a reasonable SPF (Sun Protection Factor) in your sunscreen. "To determine your sunscreen strength, multiply the amount of time it takes you to burn by the SPF number." So, if you get red in 10 minutes without protection, and you use a SPF of 30, 30 x 10 is 300 and that's the amount of time in minutes it would take to burn using a sunblock 30 SPF. Be aware of how much time you spend in the sun. My mom says to keep putting sun block on throughout the day and not just once.

You may not know it, but if you hung your arm out of the window of your car you could be burning right then and there. Never be in the sun unnecessarily without sun protection on.  

Another key way to keep healthy in the sun is to keep hydrated. That means drinking lots of water. Dehydration is very serious. It means you aren't getting enough water to replace the water you lose sweating and moving around. If you are going to play a sport outside in the sun, remember to keep a water bottle handy. Drink a lot while you're in the sun.

Sunburn isn't the only way the sun's rays can damage your body. It can also damage your eyes and cause cataracts. A cataract is when your eye clouds over and you lose your vision! That sounds awful, so protect your eyes now. Remember to wear sunglasses when you are out in the sun. And don't be fooled if you're in the car. Even tinted windows cannot block out all of the sun's rays. That includes being in water like a swimming pool. The sun's rays can travel three feet deep!

One of the most serious things sun can do to your skin is cause skin cancer. Skin cancer is very serious and unfortunately, more common now than ever. When you get older never try to tan your skin. Doing this can lead to skin cancer. Protect your skin, it's the largest organ in the body!

Now you know how to be safe and the importance of protecting yourself from the sun. Let's be sun safe this summer. Just for kicks, try saying that really fast three times. Bye!