Adopting Dogs

The Lambeek family was looking for a friend for their dog, Toby. They had found out about a charity event at east coast park where different dog shelters would come to the big splash and showcase some of their dogs. They came across a fenced area from one of the shelters, which contained 3 small puppies. One of which had bad scars on its body. They asked the representative volunteer about the small black puppy. She said that it was found at sand dunes near Tampines, and she was found with severe maggot infestations. The Family imediately fell in love with the sturdy little puppy, whos name was Charcoal. They questioned if this dog would be a suitable playmate for Toby, as it looked as if it would grow to be quite big, and Toby was small for his size. They agreed to take her for a week trial. After a week they had already formed quite a strong bond with Charcoal and couldn’t give up on her, so they signed the papers and she was all theirs. They changed her name to Maisy.

This story is a good example of helping animals that are really in the need of it.

An expert’s knowledge was certainly needed, therefore I spoke with Christine, a volunteer from Causes for Animals Singapore (CAS) she said that the local society in Singapore have a superstition that black dogs are a bad omen, and it would ensue a death in the family. Most locally found dogs are cross bred, meaning that it could be a mix of many different breeds of dogs, therefore the exact breeds of a cross-bred dog can be indeterminable. So many dogs are found on the streets every year, so why not help one out and give it a loving home to feel safe in. Of course some dogs may have had horrific memories of humans attacking them or hurting them, which might affect their behavior in a bad way. The dog might be nervous around people at first, but later they will warm up to people.

Being a dog owner can have a lot of advantages, for example people who own dogs are much happier, and are less likely to suffer from depression than people who have no pets. This is because touching someone, produces Oxytocin, the love hormone. It is produced by touch and love, this gives someone good energy, and they feel loved. So, what is it that dog shelters actually do? They go out in search of animals in distress, or they might get a call from anyone that a kitten was found in an industrial tube (true story) or a lost, whining and starving puppy was sighted lying at the side of a path. Sari Lambeek, mother of the Lambeek family, says that she notices a slight difference in behavior between the two dogs that she owns (one pedigree, one cross-bred), her cross-bred dog, Maisy has been nervous around humans, especially big men, for 3 weeks, and for Toby, the dog that they got from a very young age, took no time at all to warm up to them.

Dog shelters will always be looking for the oppurtunity to give a dog/cat a secon chance at life. It is also a possibility to sponsor a dog at a dog shelter. This provides money to give that dog food and nicer beds and toys. Many animal shelters have websites, where background stories and images can be viewed, and that is where donating, and sponsoring can be done. Volunteering at your local dog shelter can also greatly help the dogs. Some things that volunteers do at dogs shelters are walk the dogs, feed the dogs, play with the dogs, wash the dogs, and more, and belive me, it is fun. So drop the search for a breeder, and find a local dog shelter instead and find a trusty companion that would appreciate your love and care.

By Casper

Time Management

He had been studying all of his days for the upcoming math test. Not concentrating on anything else. Casper was determined to get a good grade, like Matilda, from Roald Dahl’s classic book, Matilda. Casper was oblivious to all other school asignments around him. He was too fixated on his mathematics studies. His friends had all managed their time properly, and they had all been keeping in mind the humanities project that was due very soon, and the Spanish analysis that they were sopposed to get done relatively soon. He came to school on the day of the test. Prepared in one way, unprepared in the other way.

He had just finished the test, and he was feeling quite confident about himself, and how he did in the test. Sitting on a bench, Casper was eating his snack when all of a sudden, his friend, Alex, approached him and asked if he had completed the humanities project, that was due next block. Casper was shocked and instantaneously remembered the project. He whipped out his laptop and started typing away faster than he had ever before, like Forest Gump, running across America. The quality of his final product was mediocre.

Alot of kids around the world are overwhelmed with the amount of work that is given to them, resulting in work not getting done. Plus, they need to find some space for them to have some free time away from working. It is helpful for kids to keep a journal or a calendar for them to keep track of all work.

He turned up to humanities class, that friday morning, he was nervous, just like Thomas, from the maze runner was, when he first stepped foot in the maze. Mr. Murray, his humanities teacher, kicked off the class with his ritual dance which he did every class, like LeBron doing his signature pre-game chalk toss. Mr. Murray asked for everyone to pile up the projects on his desk. Casper notice the quality of his fellow classmates’ work, this made him even more tense. He tryed to hide his work under other people’s work, so that others would not see it. The class continued normally and it was then lunchtime. His friends were boasting about how good their work was, and Casper felt quite left out. He was usually able to get all of his work done at the deadline, but in this instance, he had been too concentrated on math.

About a week later, Casper came to school prepared to both find out his grade for his math test, and his grade for humanities. Mr.Douglas called Casper up for his grade and he confidently strutted up and snatched the paper from his teacher’s hands he looked down at it and he saw the big, red 5 written in the box. He had a moment of celebration, but he then remembered humanities. He walked over to his humanities classroom, and hung out with his friends there for breaktime. It was time for class to start. He sat down in his assigned seat and he found out that the projects were to be handed out at the end of the class. Throughout the class, he was only thinking about his work. The time had come, his name was called, and he got his paper. It was a 5. What he had whipped up in the time span of only about 10 minutes was worth an attainment grade of 5.

Doing things at the last moment is not a good strategy to success. Managing your time well will result in getting everything done, and you wont need to stress at all. Even though Casper did quite well in humanities, he learned that he should have managed his time better, and that he was lucky for getting a 5 in humanities.

By Casper

Juice Box Swindlers

Recent reports in the year of 2014 say that someone has been knicking juice boxes from the UWC fridges. It is the group of robbers called ‘the little kids’. Each box costs only $0.90, but if a lot of kids snatch the juice, it all adds up to a lot of money lost. The children think of it as not much of a big deal, so they do it.

The bandits actions are described as sneaky, quick and cautious, described by an unidentified boy witness from Mr.Raisdana’s english class. The sodex workers have had an eye pinned to the fridges, according to bystanders and pedestrians.

The crooks will be heartbroken when they hear that their theivishness will come to a halt, and they are brought to justice. According to Alexander Windheim, grade 8 student, the staff have moved all of the juice boxes to one fridge to make it easier to monitor exactly who it is that is looting all of these fridges.

The question is; who is shoplifting all of these cartons! and how many of them are being lifted. The school also recently have installed new security cameras around the school and they are considering equipping more inside the cafeteria, to have data confirmation to catch the small pirates.

The devious scoundrels will soon be seized, and interrogated. Officials remind you to not become one of their association, you will be captured.