Scrapbook

Scrapbook Project

By: Noah Batchelder B5 3/15

● Sharing is Caring - WC 221

When I was about 11, my dad told me that we were going to
something called “Springfield Sharefest”. I didn’t really know what that
meant, but I got excited. As we Pulled up to McClernand Elementary
school, I could hardly wait to see what was going on inside. There were a
lot of people in and around the building, and they were all wearing the
same lime-green shirt. I quickly began to figure things out. People seemed
to be working, and I was not very happy about it. I didn’t want to go clean
up some random old school; my dad had told me we were doing something
fun. As I walked in, I was handed the same green shirt that everyone had
been given. We quickly made our way outside to plant some trees around
the playground. I complained about the weather most of the time we were
working, so my dad took me inside where we helped paint a huge mural in
the library. After we got done, I stepped back and admired the beauty we
had put into a once boring room. When everything was finished, some of
the kids that went to McClernand Elementary came and looked at our work.
Seeing the joy on their faces helped me learn to love helping others.
Preview attachment IMG_0423.jpg

● Alligator, Tag, and Airplane too! - WC 230

When I was A little kid, My family would play a lot of games late at
night. Being the youngest, I was always the worst. I usually lost to my
siblings siblings, but I always had fun. One of my favorite games to play

was Alligator. In Alligator there are pillows or “islands” on the floor that the
players have to hop from one to the other on and an alligator who crawls
around and tries to tag people when they step off the pillows. Hide and go
seek tag was my absolute favorite game as a child. Since I was the
smallest person in my family, I could hide in places that no one would think
of. Once while playing, I squeezed behind a huge chair that was difficult to
move, and I fell asleep! My family spent well over an hour looking for me
and calling my name before my brother found me stuffed behind the
massive chair. Another of my favorite games from my childhood is Airplane.
In Airplane, I would sit on my dad’s feet and he would hold my hands as he
lifted me off of the ground with his legs. Me and my siblings would have
competitions to see who could balance the longest; however my brother
always seemed to win. My family loves to play games and these three
made my childhood special!

● No Car For Noah - WC 204

Ever since I can remember, I always wanted a ride on car for kids. I
thought that they were the coolest thing a kid could have. Sadly, my
parents never bought me one, and I blame my sister. A few years before I
was born, my sister, Katie, had asked for and gotten a pink barbie jeep for
her to ride around in. At the time, Katie decided that the car was not for her
and played in the box for it instead. My dad tried to get her interested in the
car that she had begged for to no avail. When I started asking for one of
the cars every time I saw them, my dad would tell me the story to explain to
me why I would never get one. Being a stubborn child I persistently asked

for one for every christmas and every birthday for about seven years strait
until I realized that I couldn’t fit in one at the age of twelve. I considered that
the biggest regret of my life for about a few months while continuously
asking my sister why she would do this to me. Then, I promptly forgot about
it and never asked for one again.

● Half-Tooth - WC 228

When you’re a kid, the front seat of a car is the most mysterious and
magical of places. You get your own cup holder, air vent, and sometimes a
seat heater. As the youngest of three at the time, I usually did not get the
desired seat. This day, on our way out of Casa Real, Me and my siblings
were racing each other to the front seat of our dads car. I began to sprint as
fast as I could, longing to be sitting in the glorious seat. I looked around and
it seemed that I would be the first there! I was just a step away from the
door when I noticed EJ coming from around the front of the car to get there
first. As I was lunging for the door, he had already began to open it.
CRASH, my face slammed into the edge of the door. I wasn’t sure what
happened, but my mouth hurt and my sister was freaking out behind me. I
turned around to find a piece of tooth sitting in her hand. A chunk of my
front left tooth had shot out of my mouth and landed on her hand. I could
hardly breath or eat because it hurt so bad; thankfully, a few days later my
dentist put a resin on my tooth to replace the missing half.

● Max and Ruby - WC 209

My family goes to my grandpa’s house every summer. He has a
lot of land and fun things to do. Most importantly, He has dogs. One
summer a few years ago, his dog had a litter. Me and my siblings
were absolutely obsessed with the new puppies from the moment we
saw them. We could not wait to play with them every day we were
there. Sadly our week was coming to an end and we would no longer
be able to play with puppies every day. Our hours were ticking by and
we were begging with our dad to let us just take one home. He
wouldn’t budge; however, about 10 minutes before we left he finally
broke down, and he let us have two! They were named Max and
Ruby. For the first week or two, us children took care of them every
day. We fed them, trained them, and replaced their puppy pads. To
the annoyment of our father, those jobs slowly became his. Even
though they were hard to take care of, they were well worth the effort.
Any time we were gone, we could expect to come home to a mess;
however, they still added a lot of joy and fun to my childhood.

● House Hitters - WC 223

When I was about 9, my family moved from Colorado Springs,
Colorado to Rochester, Illinois. After about a year in a small house by RCC,
we moved to my current neighborhood. Me and my brother loved to play
soccer, so on moving day we went to the back yard and started to kick a
soccer ball around. My brother, EJ, was 12 at the time, so he could kick a
lot harder than 10 year old me. On one of his passes, the ball went soaring
by me and hit the new neighbors house because there was no fence. I
didn’t think it was a big deal and walked over to get our ball, but as we
started to pass again our scary neighbor came out and told us that we
better not hit his house again. Throughout the years after that we had come
up with a plan: if we ever hit his house we would run inside and lock all the
doors. Sadly this plan was foiled when he came over to our house and rang
the doorbell to tell our dad that we hit his house with a soccer ball. My dad
told us to be more careful, and that he didn’t understand why our neighbor
was so mad. EJ and I never hit his house again after that day.