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End of the Year

May 29, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Kathryn Alexander, Daniel Amador, Luke Fisher, Moriah Mitchell, and Zoomy Muhammad

The end of the school year has arrived and the staff of OTJ would like to send off with an article about what we all loved this year at ODE

As the end of the school year draws closer and the beginning of summer draws near, the students of ODE reflect back on their year. It’s been a crazy one, from new teachers, to new classes, to the lockdown and adapting to changes, the students of ODE have had a memorable year. We here at OTJ  decided to ask all of the students of the OTJ class about their year and what they’re going to miss most. We’ve compiled their submissions into one article so that we may remember this year for many more years to come. 

“My highlight from ODE this year had to be our Theater class’ sword fighting workshop. Our teacher, Linnea Carrera, brought in a friend of hers who specializes in sword fighting and stage combat to give us all an introduction to the art form. We learned some basic moves, techniques, and terminology and then got to put what we learned into practice. The workshop was fun and engaging. Everyone was excited to learn and the environment was very encouraging since we were all trying something out of our comfort-zones. I’ll miss my classmates and teachers this summer. Finally, I want to thank all of the teachers and staff that make ODE happen every week, we appreciate you and wish that we had a proper goodbye before the school year ended!” 

-Kathryn Alexander, Sophomore  

“This was my first year in upper school, and I loved it! The new level of classes, the challenge, the interactions, (the grades,) it all made for a great year! I loved starting every Friday with fun, educational exercise in Gym Class, and ending it with warm hot chocolate and tea in Literature Class! When we couldn’t physically go to ODE, I missed my friends, the interactions, and the classes. I hope we will be able to go to ODE next school year!”

-Daniel Amador, Bridge  

“Great. The class was neat and we got food.”

-Luke Fisher, Bridge 

 “This year, I have to say, it has been quite an exciting and amazing year. I experienced a lot of new things, and this was also my first year of high school. However, there is one thing that made my year very special. This was also my first year at ODE, and it has been one of my most memorable years yet. All of the kids and teachers were extremely kind and I had the best time in all my classes. Let’s go back to when I first visited ODE in the spring of 2019. I remember feeling very awkward walking around the building not knowing anyone. But it was not long before two girls came up to me and introduced themselves and offered to help me if I needed it! We chatted for a little bit and then they showed me around ODE! I will never forget that. They were so welcoming, and later in the fall, I learned that a welcoming attitude is not foreign in the ODE community. When I arrived for my first class in the fall, a group of kids was chatting in the study hall. I introduced myself, and they asked me what classes I was taking. I soon learned we all had similar schedules! We then chatted and laughed, and by the end of the first day, I felt like I had become best friends with all of them. Our friendships clicked immediately, and I don’t think there has ever been a day where I haven’t laughed at ODE. Classes at ODE are the best. They are so informing and I have really learned a lot this year about Journalism, Biology, Theater, and Spanish. The teachers were also extremely welcoming and I loved each of their classes. I thoroughly enjoyed the work and class time. In every class, I found I always learned something new. Every teacher was so knowledgeable on their specific subject. Journalism was a class I enjoyed immensely. It was a topic I had never been introduced to before and I loved making our website, typing articles, and taking pictures for our yearbook! I felt very passionate in that class and we all worked hard to make our website and our yearbook a success. I learned so much about reporting and journalism that I had never known! Over the summer, I will especially miss study hall with my friends and learning new things in our classes. Even though our year was cut short, I am so thankful for the exciting and wonderful year I’ve had. I have made amazing friends this year and I can’t wait to see everyone in the fall!”

-Moriah Mitchell, Freshman 

 “Out of all of my years at ODE, this will be the one I remember the most fondly. I can’t name just one reason, because it was a combination of a lot of things that made this year so memorable for me. For one, I was able to teach my own class which sounds crazy enough as it is. My passion for journalism has grown immensely and now I’m considering it as a career path, so thank you Mrs. Ginter for giving me a potential path to take in life. I’m definitely going to miss Journalism class the most. I’ve had so much fun leading the Journalism class and writing articles with everyone. And despite how hectic the yearbook committee was, I loved every second of it. I’ve realized my love of working with people and managing a team through my experiences in both Journalism and making the yearbook. I’ll deeply miss everyone in the class. They’ve brightened up my year in ways I never could’ve imagined and hopefully I brightened theirs as well.” 

-Zoomy Muhammad, Sophomore 

We hope you had a great year too, and we can’t wait to see you all next school year!

Filed Under: -Featured-, Community

30 Interesting and Creative things People Did During Quarantine

May 16, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Daniel Amador

Ever since this quarantine started, millions of people have done many unique and fun things to keep them occupied and busy, so I have interviewed 6 people (myself included) and asked them to tell me five interesting things they did during this pandemic, and here they are.

I have made my interview very diverse, I have interviewed a sister, a cousin, two friends from ODE, and a friend from a camp: 3 boys, 3 girls, to get all perspectives.

My first interviewee is my oldest sister Elie Amador. Around the time this epidemic started, she came back home to Chicago for a break from teaching in Thailand, and she was hoping to do all sorts of fun things in Chicago, but couldn’t because of this lockdown, so I only thought it necessary to interview her first, so here is the interview:

“What are five things creative things you did during quarantine?” 

“I looked through my childhood books. Books I read in my childhood.  

“I recorded my music in the attic of my church.”

“I volunteered at the food drive at my church.” 

“I went for a long run around my neighborhood, in the dark.”

“I bought a polaroid to take pictures.”

“Was that five?” 

“Um, yes.” 

My second interviewee is a girl named Kayla Bitakis, a friend from a camp. She is homeschooled and has just recently turned 14. This is what she wrote:

“By Kayla Bitakis”

“As this COVID-19 quarantine has been going on, I have found some fun hobbies to do in all this free time. Whether you find joy watching TV all day, or baking, or just have absolutely no idea to do with all this free time, I thought I’d share some of the fun things I’ve been doing during quarantine.”

 “So the thing that I have found to be taking a big chunk of my time is this TV series called “The Chosen”. It’s a multiple season story based on the life of Christ. IT IS SO GOOD. I’ve cried in several episodes and cannot stop rewatching it. HIGHLY recommend it.”

 “Another thing that I’ve enjoyed doing is baking. I’ve been experimenting with especially bread and cookies!”

 “Another thing that I’ve been doing is biking! I’ve been biking so often lately I feel I’m going out too much.”

 “One thing that I’ve also been doing is doing is testing my geography skills and seeing if I can list all of the countries of the world.” 

My third interviewee is a friend from ODE, Zoomy Muhammad. She is also a writer for OTJ, is homeschooled, and is 16 years old. Here is how the interview went:

“Ok, so, the first interesting thing I did during quarantine, was, I taught myself a Tik Tok dance. because I thought it was weird, that I was sixteen, and I didn’t know a Tik Tok dance. And I was like, I’m like the only person my age in the world that doesn’t know a little bit of a Tik Tok dance, so I taught myself one. it was actually pretty fun, and it didn’t take long, so I’m gonna try to teach myself three more, over the course of this month.”

“So that was the first thing I did. This next one is for school,  but I’ve been experimenting with cooking, not baking, cause I’ve got baking down, but cooking. I’m trying to figure out how to  season things better and stuff like that.” 

“That’s the second thing. I’ve been making new outfits. Eh, it sounds weird because I can’t actually leave the house, to, um, like, to show them off. But, you know, I’ve been rummaging through my drawers, finding old clothes that I haven’t worn in long time, and I’ve been trying them on, pairing them up with other clothes, so that, hopefully, when the quarantine is over, at least I’ll leave quarantine looking cute.”

“Um, some, somewhat similar, I’ve been doing something similar with my hair, um, I’ve been trying new things, uh, with my hair, watching videos on Instagram, of how to get my hair in certain styles I want it to be in. So,  I have my hair done up right now and I’m gonna try to do something with it later.”

“Uh, the fifth thing is that I’ve been perfecting my rollerblading. I now somewhat know how to stop, a little bit, maybe.” 

My fourth interviewee is another friend from ODE named Luke Fisher. Like the interviewee before him, he is also a writer for OTJ, is homeschooled, and is 13 years old. This is what he said:

“Ok, so, once again you said that I have to mention that I’ve been writing a book, so that is number one.”

“Number two, um, I’ve watched the final season of the clone wars, which is fantastic, especially the last four episodes. they are just perfect, some of the best Star Wars I’ve ever watched.”

“Number, I think three, maybe, Yeah. I think three. Uh, I rewatched The Mandalorian and I’m watching The Disney gallery Mandalorian The Series Behind the Scenes Documentary every Friday. Good series.”

“Um, number four, wait, am I already on number four or is it number five? Number four, thank you! I have been kicked out of my own room and forced to sleep in the basement, which has been an interesting experience.”

“Um, number five. I’ve been completely ignoring the stay-at-home-lock-down-quarantine-thing, just haven’t listened to that at all.

And we are done.”

My fifth interviewee is my cousin, David Chan. He is homeschooled, and just recently turned 14. This is how it went:

“What was the first interesting thing you did during quarantine?”

 “So, one interesting thing I did was because I had extra time, I started working out and my dad taught me how to do different things, so it’s been fun to do that.” 

“Another thing is that I’ve been doing is online Chess, doing chess calls with my friends, and learning how to play chess better and having fun with my friends at the same time.”

“The third thing I have been doing is I have been collecting data with a survey I sent, a survey for a history project, so it’s been kinda cool to see different people’s responses to the questions I gave, and on what they thought, like on what they thought about CoronaVirus and, responses to it and, the government’s handling [it].”

“The fourth thing is I have been doing lots of virtual game nights. Like, playing different things on them. Well not game nights necessarily game nights, just game times, playing games like Pharisees, or, Scribble-io, Mafia, you know, kinds of different games with friends whereas I would have never really done calls like that before.”

“I’ve, been participating in organizing and leading Virtual Prayer and Worship calls with people, also, I’ll add to the fourth, that some of the calls of I’ve been on have been with people I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, not just people I see regularly.” 

“Thank you for your time!”      

The last official person I interviewed was myself. I am (evidently) a writer for OTJ, am homeschooled, and am 13 years old. This is what I wrote:

“Number one is that I have been writing a book, and I have been re-reading a lot more books, like The Underland Chronicles.”

“Number two is that I have been writing articles for OTJ, like this one.

“Number three is that me and my family re-watched the Lord of the Rings series, the Star Wars movies, and The Mandalorian series.”

“Number four is that, for my second oldest sister’s birthday, we did a scavenger hunt sort of thing where we would drive to friends’ or relatives’ house and she would be blindfolded. By the time we reached a destination, we would read a clue to her about the person or persons, and she would have to guess correctly before we unblindfold her.”

“The fifth and final thing is that, several times, me, my younger brother, my oldest sister, and once my father and older brother slept in a tent in the basement or the greenroom. We did it for fun and to try a new experience!” 

The final interview was with my little sister Emma Amador/Rodriguez. This one is not an official interview, since Emma is only 2 ½, and is basically just comic relief. Unlike the other interviews, I will include what I say during the interview, so that it will be less confusing. So, here it is:

“What are five interesting things you did during quarantine?”

 “Favaves.” 

“Uh huh,”

 “Es fevavalen esoufathis.” 

“And then what?” 

“Ati!” 

“¿Que?” 

“Pasi a fefa.” 

“Oh.” 

“Editouwyow faui. Dede mau.”

“Thank you for your time.”

Translation for at least one of the things she said: Ati = Aquí = “Here” in Spanish.

And those are all the interviews! I hope this will give you some ideas of things to do during quarantine, maybe you could even ‘Pasi a fefa’ (whatever that means) like Emma said!


Filed Under: -Featured-, Community

CoronaVirus Part 2: Current Times And What To Do

April 1, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Daniel Amador

As of Friday the 20th of March, the Mayor of Chicago and Governor of Illinois announced that the State of Illinois will be on shelter-in-place at 5:00 on Saturday the 21 of March, though they were already urging people to stay at home anyway. 

What this order means is that you can not go to work unless your job is that of an essential supplier.  For example, a cashier at a supermarket, security guard at a supermarket, a police officer, and, of course, a medical professional . You are also not allowed to use public transportation unless you have a letter from the government allowing you to, and you cannot go to a public playground. You wouldn’t be able to anyway, they are all closed. But you CAN take a walk outside if you do not touch anything, and you are allowed to go to the store when you need to (and to those dog-lovers, you are allowed to walk your dog; they cannot carry the virus).
But enough about rules and restrictions, here are five  good ideas of what to do, and other things that may help you in this time:

  1. You’re not alone. Remember, this is worldwide! More than 100 countries have at least 1 confirmed case, and millions of people are quarantined too. Also, every state in the US now has at least 1 confirmed case. 
  2.  Just do what you do. As homeschoolers, we (generally speaking) normally stay at home most of the time anyway, so just do what you normally do! Read a book, do some homework (remember, we were still given homework in some classes), watch a movie, play LEGOs… I am sure you can think of something.
  3. Make a movie or write a book. Throughout my life, I have always been making movies (or videos) or writing comics and stories. Use a device to record, grab some prompts, and invite siblings to help, and get creative. And for writing a story or comic, it is not that hard to get started; all you need is an idea in your head and a way to write it out. 
  4. Go to your basement or work area and create! As some of you may know, I have been involved in creating several cardboard arcade businesses, and not just in ODE, so I would recommend trying to build a cardboard arcade game or two. I would suggest using hot glue above any other connecting material. You could also try to build something out of wood and nails, carve something, or maybe just any other kind cool contraption! 

I hope these things will help you through this shelter-in, and here is a poem I wrote about this epidemic; it may not be the best, but I hope you enjoy it:

CoronaVirus

By Daniel Amador

The CoronaVirus is very mean

I wish this were all just a dream

I can hardly enjoy the outside green

This virus puts me in a bad mood

Hopefully we won’t run out of food

I wish Covid 19 could be sued

But don’t lose hope!

Or sit around and mope

(and don’t forget to use soap)

Maybe if to your hygiene you tend

 I am sure in time this will all end

The finnish may be just around the bend! 

Filed Under: -Featured-, Community, Information

Judson Lock-In

March 12, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Daniel Amador

Last Friday from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m, Judson Baptist church had a lock-in for 6th to 12th graders (including the adult staff). A lock-in is when a group of people (in this case, a church or youth group) get together in one building, and stay locked-in and awake for at least twelve hours. They usually have games, activities, snacks, and movies. 

There were around 50-60 people that came. It was organized by the Judson Baptist Youth Group and Village Church of Oak Park, who encouraged everyone in the church to bring their friends. Also, Jonathan Miller, ODE’s very own gym teacher and one of the youth group pastors for Judson and organizers of the event, told a bunch of his 6th to 12th grader gym class students about it, and they were told to bring their friends. 

People started coming at 7:00 p.m, and played games for a few hours. Then the staff called everyone together to tell them a bit more about the lock-in, the rules, and what they would be doing. There was laser tag, foosball, dodgeball (and other gym-related games), board games, non-stop movies, carpet ball, two kinds of mafia, Underground Church, lots of snacks, and endless pizza (24 boxes, to be exact)!

For laser-tag, they played teams, free-for-all, and even had a tournament (congratulations to Nathan Canada, who was the winner of it)! There were sixteen guns in total, so eight players for each team in team games. The laser guns  were a bit tricky to use and the staff had to fuss with them to get them to work, but everyone eventually understood how to use and play with them.

Around a third way through the night, the staff called everyone together to meet in the sanctuary, and they showed everyone a very metaphorical, moving, and interesting video about Jesus and how he came to earth to save everyone from sin (you can see it if you go to http://www.fallingplates.com/en#!/player). And after the video, one of the staff named Josh Edwards (the youth pastor for Village Church of Oak Park) shared his testimony about how he became a Christian and a little about his faith journey. He told us to meet in small groups of 2-3 people, and share our beliefs and where we are in our faith. Then he prayed, and we were dismissed to continue with the activities. 


They played a game called Underground Church with almost everyone; this is basically how you play it: There are three people with pool noodles who are called kurgs (real name is unknown), two medics, and everyone else are just ordinary people (the number of kurgs and medics vary). The kurgs have the power to make people out (in which they sit on the ground and can no longer play) by whacking them with a pool noodle, and the medics have the power to get people back in by tagging them. The way the kurgs win is by getting everyone out with the pool noodles, and the way for everyone else to win is by “killing” all the kurgs, and the only way to do that is by pointing a flashlight at them.The staff who weren’t playing hid several pieces from two flashlights all around the building, so that the people would have to search for all the parts and had to piece them all together so that they would work. But they could not kill all of the kurgs with just one flashlight, so they had to put the pieces together and then have both of the flashlights in the same place, to finally win.

At around 6 am, everyone got together to clean up, and were split up  into groups to get it done quicker.    

It was an amazing time for people to get to know each other, try something new, learn about God and His love, and to just have fun! I really enjoyed it, and I hope everyone else did too!   

Filed Under: Community

Shrek The Musical

February 20, 2020 by Zoomy Muhammad

By Daniel Amador

SPOILER ALERT!

Shrek the Musical was probably the most comedic play CYT (Christian Youth Theater) has done that I can remember (which is a good while)! It is full of comedy, romance, crude humor, and drama.  I would recommend it as a great family play! 

 For those who are not familiar, Shrek the Musical is a 2-hour play about an ogre whose land has been invaded by fairytale animals because the evil Lord Farquaad has banished them to from Duloc. In his quest to get the land back he is tasked by Farquad with rescuing a princess  in exchange for his swamp. Along the way, with an annoying but funny talking donkey. They arrive at the tower, Donkey has a confrontation with the dragon,and they rescue the princess. But the journey’s only half over.   

On their journey back Princess Fiona and Shrek start falling in love. Shrek is unaware that Fiona turns into an ogre at night because of a spell that was cast on her. This spell will be broken when she’s found true love’s kiss. Their relationship is broken because of a misunderstanding and Princess Fiona moves on her way to marry Lord Farquaad, who wanted to marry her to become King of Duloc. As a reward Lord Farquaad grants Shrek ownership of his land and the fairytale creatures are kicked out again.  Donkey convices Shrek of Fiona’s love for him, so he goes back to the castle and stops the wedding. Before the guards could kick Shrek out, the other fairytale creatures invade the palace and we discover that Lord Farquaad is actually a fairytale creature himself, son of Princess Pea and Grumpy the dwarf. Shrek confesses to Fiona his love for her, they marry and Fiona officially turns into a full-time ogre.

 I would like to give a shout out to all the many ODE students in CYT who took up a very large part of the cast! Here is a list of all of them (I apologize if I missed anyone):

ODE Student(s)

Lavonia Black-Dulocian

Willow Black-Mama Bear

Nathan Canada-Backstage

Jayden Cervantes-Papa Ogre, Captain of the Guards

Zaelyn Marshall-Farquaad’s Guard

Sarah Muhammad-Backstage

Yvonne Muhammad-Pied Piper, Peter Pan

Eva Ropinski-Young Fiona, Little Red Riding Hood

Kaelyn Tello-Duloc Dancer, Announcer, Fire Dancer, Mice Dancer

Kaylie Tello-Three Little Pigs, Knight

Reaghan Watkins-Duloc Dancer, Rat Dancer, Fire Dancer, Who I’d Be Dancer, Mice Dancer

Will Watkins-Young Shrek, Farquaad’s Guard

Former ODE Student(s)

Abi Amador-Dragon, Fairy Godmother

Jonny Amador-Grumpy

Shelby Black-Donkey

ODE Teacher(s)

Sylvia Amador-Souvenirs/Silent Auction

Christina Tello-Hair/Make-Up

And a shout out to all the CYT/ODE students’ parents who were involved in this too!

Throughout the play we hear many funny, sad, and romantic songs. If you want to know more about Shrek, you can watch the movie Shrek (which is basically the same thing), watch the movie Shrek 2, or watch the Puss In Boots movie, which is about a character in Shrek 2. Also, be sure to watch the next play coming up, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Auditions will be held on March 13th at Judson Baptist Church, and the show itself will be held May 15th-17th at West Leyden High School. If you are looking for a good family show, more comedy, and some old classics Peanuts antics, I am sure this next coming show will be great for you! 

Filed Under: Community, Media

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