By Kortney Hartz

Third Grade: It's third grade. Kieren and my first year. Two girls decide to talk to me. One is a slender girl with a pink and blue striped shirt, the other is tall much taller then the rest of us. She has brown hair and jeans shorts. Then a third girl walks by and gives me a weird look. I decide not to become friends with her. I don't realize this little girl with braids and a dolphin sweater will become my best friend. I don't think she knew either.

Fourth Grade: It's fourth grade. Shelley, and Chris R are new. We have a sunroof. We are the kings and queens of the lower school. Telling the third and second graders how hard it is being a fourth grader, not realizing we will have weekend homework and huge research projects to do when we hit middle school. We learn poetry that year. I finally get to shine and make a statement. Looking back on it, it was the most writing I ever did in a class, probably my favorite time in school. We're going to Hawthorne Valley. I finally grasp the concept of having to spend a week with my friends while we do "activities" usually involving farming or trust games. This is supposed to help us bond, yet usually at the end of these trips I'm sick of my friends and can't wait to get away from them. My fondest memory is Matthew naming a featherless, naked, frightening chicken Poopsie. That, and baking bread four days in a row. We have ERB's in the spring time. Let me tell you because of our sunroof, it feels like its 97 degrees in there. We are mere ants and the ceiling is a giant magnifying glass. Just to make it clear it's a couple weeks till school lets out, it's beautiful outside, the room has turned into a green house, and were taking a nerve racking standardized test. Hey it could be worse.

Fifth Grade: Our first year in the middle school. Doug, Peter, Brooke, Jesse and Violet are new. Many of the boys have shrunk and the girls have grown. This is our first year of our three-year record for assigned seats at lunch. Susan showed us what these giant rolls of paper that people usually read in the mornings called newspapers are. Who would have thought. She showed us that to be individuals you need to know your surroundings. You need to be aware of what's happening. We read Tuck Everlasting, the first book I stop reading half way through. Drink the water, Don't drink the water. Just pick Winnie. Jesus! We study the Egyptians. I hate my group, all we do is bicker. I want to be in Sara's group. They have a pop-up mummy hanging over their desks. I want a pop-up mummy. I loved 5th grade.

Sixth Grade: I have the sweetest teacher. Her name is Hilary. She drinks a lot of diet coke, I wonder if it's because of us. Naida, Ziggy, Ben, Tess, and Lance are new. The girls really shoot up. The boys however seem even shorter than before. Nick sits next to me. He says stupid stuff like "But I'm You" and repeats quotes from MadTV and SNL. This is the year of two important things, the Summer Olympics and the hanging chads. The room was filled with democrats. None of us knew what the policies were from either parties, all we knew was Gore was supposed to win. Then one person stood up in class and stated. "I'm not a republican, but I want Bush to win." In utter shock we decide to make fun of the silly things Bush says like "stratigery" and deliberately tell them to Chris. When Bush won we all came in discussing how he cheated although none of us knew how. Chris sat there smugly. None of us appreciated this.

Seventh Grade: All of my teachers are new. Shenique, Chris S, and Jack are new. Our anticipation of the year to come is halted. The day is September 11th. We're several blocks away but you can see everything. I associate the day with when Chris S. and I became friends. We were the last two to be picked up. We both watched as student after student disappeared. The week we came back was quite numb. We talked about it, but it was still a raw for all of us. Noni decided that we needed new seats she puts me between Nick and Chris L. It felt good to move. A fresh breath of different people, although these two boys were not what I had in mine. Nick as I told you was, well, Nick, and Chris was a republican. Noni, thank god, you put me between these boys. I now consider them to be practically brothers. From them I learned to be a individual, not run with rest of the sheep, discuss what I want to discuss, laugh at stupid jokes. Chris especially showed me to look at the other perspective, just because the majority of the class says one thing doesn't mean you have to as well. These boys showed me humility and kindness I could never repay you for what you've taught me and given me. I feel honored to have met you. I also want to thank who ever decided to put Shenique in my class. When I first met her I figured she was plain. Everyone called her cute and told her to be funny. It was like, "Roll over Shenique come on you can do it. Good girl, you get a treat now." One day I looked over at her desk. She had a pink bunny on the end of her pencil, she pretended to let it hop and then she pretended as though it were attacking her. That's when I decided that she was going to be my friend. I don't know what I would be like if I hadn't met Shenique.

Eighth grade: I get Sarah Barlow. Sarah is so funny. She has the coolest faces and stories. Although when she tells you she lived in Africa or Tibet for more then a year she says it like everyone has. The classroom has also been a big part of class. In several instances, New York has been a backdrop to homeroom. Sebastian Sartor is new. We fight over music. The misfits mostly. We studied symbolism, a topic none of us really want to discuss. We fought for each other this year. In one situation involving a harlem globetrotters uniform being taken away from a certain someone who teachers thought would bring to much attention to himself by wearing the uniform. But come on, that someone could bring attention to himself without even trying. Billy and Pulia have become my friends, and Tess well don't take anything I say seriously. Ziggy two words dinnertime. This year had another historical event that changed our lives. We watched as the government against the people of the country and other countries went to war. We discussed this topic everyday. We asked about our leaders and why this school only talked about pro peace rallies. We questioned authority, we talked about topics that involved us. Our class finally got to express it's personality.

The Moving Up ceremony: I stand in front of all of you discussing in paragraphs my life at little red. I believe this is impossible. How do I express six years of almost benign pure fun. I love you guys so much. To the class of 2007 we finally made it through middle school with only a few bumps and bruises.