The Crusader

View our newest addition to The Catalyst- the "Essay Expose" Featuring Kevin Thoder's Essay on Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part II. Please view here! 

Enjoy this creative artwork from LC students. If you missed these displays on the walls, you can see them now at your leisure!

 ---------------------- 

This week we are featuring the artwork of Emily Lazarro. Enjoy!

Enjoy this poetic biography of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a great American President

In Hyde Park, in New York, in month number one,
The Roosevelts got their first, only son.
They called him FD, and spoiled him rotten,
And then they sent him to the boys’ school of Groton.

He liked model ships and his stamp collection;
And his distant cousin, Teddy, gave him good connections.
He said to Frank, “I now hold the office, but bully for you
If you’re elected president of the United States too!”

He used his ambition as a goal
When he went to Harvard Law School.
His distant cousin, Eleanor, he decided to wed;
And soon five Roosevelt kids had to be fed.

He said to his wife,” I’ll get voted in office for sure!”
And soon enough, he became state senator.
When Woodrow Wilson won,
The Navy Department he helped run. 

After the war, the vice president office he lost,
So a lawyer’s job he was tossed. 
But he needed a rest, so he went to the shore,
And there he caught polio, of which there was no cure.

But he wouldn’t give up:
He’d be number one.
“My career is not over,
It’s only begun!”

And he didn’t slow down,
He only went faster!
And soon he was New York’s ruling master.
But the economy was sinking,
So FDR started thinking
He could be president in Washington town!

So in 1932, a Democrat the Americans selected,
And so FDR was then first elected.
Right away he used his New Deal
To get every American a decent meal.

Jobs and Social Security he provided,
And Eleanor visited where the poor resided.
He gave fireside chats at home,
But in Europe, Hitler was beginning to roam.
He was taking countries and killing the Jews.
It seemed like he could not lose!
“We’ll stay out of this conflict,” said FD,
But then the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor
And sunk our ships at sea.

“We’ll never forget this horrible day!
We’ll avenge their death, and for their souls we’ll pray.”
So then we declared war on the Japs, and the Germans too,
And before we knew it, we were in World War II.

The war gave jobs
For man and for wife.
But the price was not easy:
A huge loss of life.

And even though FD got elected again and again,
It just seemed like the horrible war would never end.
So he met with the Big Three:
Stalin, Churchill and he.
But what they could do? They could not see.

But just when victory was in sight,
FDR had a stroke and died overnight.
FD, president thirty-two,
America he loved and knew.
He was a good citizen; loyal and true,
And was the most elected president too.
And now, though he’s a figure of lore,
He helped us win and fight that horrible war.

An excerpt from short story by Delanie Wampler...

“Shelby said that she heard from Dave that Chuck Ryan rarely                         showers,” she laughs.

“Well gross people smell gross I guess,” I say with a chuckle. Suddenly            everything becomes eerily quiet. Three loud pops ring out, just                      screaming terror into everyone’s ears.  Three people crash to the floor          at the end of the hallway.  The smack of their bodies hitting the tile                is sickening.  There are screams, blood, and people running                              everywhere. Chuck Ryan’s grimacing face appears at the end of the              hallway.  As I lock eyes with him for a half a second, it hits me that all            our lives are in great jeopardy and I panic as I see two handguns in                each of his hands . . .

Click here for the full story!

Koreans all over the world celebrate the national holiday of Sami-il on March 1st, marking their movement of independence from Japan. Read this short story by Jiny Lee to find out more:

March 1st is a significant day for Koreans. In 1910 Korea acquiesced to Japan, and was annexed. Koreans lost their natural rights, suffering under the control of Japan. Three years later, Koreans, who lost patience with the restriction, began a liberation campaign. Commemorating the brave actions of their ancestors, Koreans made March 1st a national holiday. The next day is the worst day for students; Korean school begins right after the anniversary. Disheveled and crestfallen students come to school, like cattle which are being drawn along to a slaughterhouse. The depression, however, does not remain for much time. Garrulous students start to gradually become blithe again, joining the conversation. March is ultimately a month of increased energy for me!

Featured last week was a poem by Senior Rudy Koestel titled, Ashes.

Ashes

As the sun breaks to revel the sand of the shores

People scurry to begin their chores

But upon a rooftop, stands a man who beholds the truth

But to the busy walkers he is only a sleuth

He lifts the darkness into light and says to withstand the hate

But spoken words fall short on the ears of fate

He says love is true, for us he will defend

The alpha and omega and the sufferings end

But the people continue their strenuous hustle

As the hopes of the man begins to rustle

As the thoughts of the man is overtaken by distraught

An onlooker has the undeniable train of thought

That this man is the way, the truth, and light

But never did he think he would see this sight

For to him, this man was more than a hope

He was love, holding the heavens rope

Then the silent unheard voices of the past reawakened

Being spoken by the sick, the sad and the forsaken

So the man raised his hand in hopes of a sign

For all his life he walked the fine line

And the heavenly man noticed the struggling soul

And he knew that he had traveled through the darkest hole

But the crowd continued with its selfish acts

But faith was the element that they had lacked

And as the sun spread its light onto the street

The doubtful wanderers began to flee

They pleaded for a sacrifice, the wandering man

The only one who had reached out his earthly hands

As the hatred spread across the open grass

The hypocrites and selfish were turned into ash

The wanderer stood with the man holding the savior’s book

As both looked over the ash, and the ground as it shook

For hatred and selfishness both did rehash

As the rest of the world was burned into ash.