Community

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!

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!