Atascadero Junior High School, Atascadero, California and Monarch Elementary School, Los Osos, California

Audrey
By Katrina Mayes

She just doesn't seem to learn. I have this little sister named Audrey. And I have to admit it, I am always mean to her. My family and I have a little boy living with us. He is my cousin. And he is so nice to Audrey; but then, Audrey is just mean to him. She is never nice to my cousin. (His name is Chance.) And my parents always say that it's my fault. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. I am mean to my little sister, then she turns around and is mean to Chance. So, because I am mean to Audrey, she is mean to Chance. But Chance is always letting Audrey play with his toys and other nice stuff like that. But, then Audrey just turns around and is mean to him. And if it is my fault then I am going to try to be nice to her because I feel sorry for chance because Audrey will not even let chance be in the same room as her. She is always chasing him and hitting him but then Chance just turns around and is nice to her. So, I am going to try to be nice to Audrey because I want to see Audrey being nice to Chance and have them get along. And also, I hope that she will be nice to him and make my whole family happier.
The End

The Nicest Thing
By Joe Demke

About three years ago, my Father was unemployed for about a year. We had very little money as we had eaten through our savings account. So we moved into a three bedroom house with a huge family of ten people. We had been struggling for some time. Our food storage and reserves were depleted by the end of that year. The Christmas holiday season ominously fell upon us. We had gone out into the forest to chop down our tree for $5.00. The presents were very scant as they lay under the tree, and our cupboards were becoming more and more barren. Then one of those Christmas miracles you hear about actually happened. It was the Monday before Christmas. Our family had spent the evening singing Christmas carols around the piano. Suddenly the phone rang. I answered the phone, and the message was quick and terse: "Santa Claus has visited the Demke home!"

When I relayed the message to the family, my younger brothers literally "tore open the shutters, and threw up the sash." There they were two very large boxes, decorated with Christmas wrappings. We retrieved our bounty from the driveway, and dragged the heavy load into the Front Room. As the contents were spread across the floor, we found turkeys and hams and Christmas trimmings. We found spaghetti, flour, bread, cereal, candies and desserts. There were diapers, soaps, toothpaste, and other toiletries. Someone had gone out and with charitable heart filled our cupboards with family necessities. No one ever claimed credit as our family's benefactor. No hint had ever been shown by friends or relatives. And in truth, no one knew of our plight at the time. But someone knew and cared enough to shop and sacrifice for a struggling family during that holiday season. Children debate the reality of Santa. And wars wage on the basis of religious beliefs and political philosophies. But some truly caring soul blessed the life of our family that cold winter's night in a way that transcends time. They blessed us with a tradition that has been incorporated into our holiday planning, and will surely pass on to my children. The milestone of a new millennium has passed. People have debated the great events of the atom bomb, landng on the moon, and the invention of the computer. But the event that affected me the most was the impact of one charitable soul, who anonymously gave food to our family during that difficult season. Ever since this Miracle the true meaning of Christmas, Charity, and Love has and always will touch my families's hearts. So every Christmas we go out in the rain or snow and we sing to people and drop off gifts and goodies so that we may touch the hearts of others like that one anonymous person did for our family.

The Special Olympics
By Scott Duclos

Have you ever heard of the Special Olympics? Well when I was in the third grade, my dad, mom, and I all were involved with it. Special Olympics are special days set aside for handicapped kids. They partake in all different kinds of sporting events. The winners receive medals, but all the participants win just by participating. That year it was held at Morro Bay High School. My dad and I had a buddy that day. His name was Michael and we were responsible for him throughout the day. That means totally responsible for him, getting him to all his events, making sure he ate lunch, was drinking enough water, putting on sunscreen and anything else that Michael might need. My mom was responsible for timing for the track events. The Special Olympics was held on a school day and I had permission from my teacher and principal to be excused that day. In exchange for missing class work, I was required to write an essay on how I spent my day and what I learned from the experience. Right from the start, the day was great. The first thing we did was to meet our buddy, Michael. He was eleven and in a wheel chair. He had a great personality and we got along well. Michael's sporting events that day were all tracks; he participated in the relay race, shot put and a wheel chair sprint. There was so much excitement in the air. All the athletes were so thrilled to be there. I could tell that they really looked forward to this day. Besides the events, there were other things for the kids to do. They had carnival with prizes, music to dance by and food. The whole day was devoted to these special people. The day went by so fast, not only did Michael have a great day but also so did I. That night when I sat down to write my essay I thought about what we did and what I learned. I realized that when you give your time to someone, you are really the one that benefits from it. I believe it was perpetual because this was something my mom wanted to do and then she got my father involved and he got me involved and then next year my sister got involved. Through this process it goes on and on getting more and more people involved. I would enjoy participating again and also would like to explore other events that I could volunteer my time for.

Know a group of kids who are paying it forward? Go to the "Contact Us" page and let us know!