Student Writers: Jalen Rojas

Welcome to Meriden Patch's inaugural Student Writer of the Week column. Many accomplished writers and authors are natives of our very own city of Meriden. Where did they get their start? In Meriden schools.

From labeling a sentence with descriptive words, to narrative and persuasive writing, to writing essays for college applications, teaching writing has been a priority of the language arts curriculum in Meriden for years.

We at Meriden Patch thought it would be nice to feature some of the young writers from our city. With the cooperation of Susan Perrone and Joanne Conti, Language Arts coordinators for Meriden Public Schools, you can enjoy reading what students write in our new, weekly feature, Student Writers. Who knows, we may discover a future Meriden Patch Reporter! -- Roberta Dolan

This week's featured writer: Jalen Rojas

School: Casimir Pulaski

Age: 10

Grade: 5

Teacher: Mrs. Long

What have you learned in school that makes you a better writer? Mrs. Long lets us do free writing to use our imaginations and express ourselves. It makes us better writers. We can build on the concepts she teaches us to practice during free writing. Mrs. Long also puts our free writing out to let other students read it. They make comments. This lets us know what they think about the writing so the comments can help us.

What is your favorite book? One of my favorite books is Framed. The author is Gordon Korman. Framed is about a Super Bowl ring that was stolen from a school.

What do you like to do outside of school? I like to do a lot of things but my favorite is baseball. I play fall and spring ball on a league. I like to play second base and pitch.

Jalen's writing:

Jalen's piece below was the response to a writing prompt for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.

Prompt: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in the moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at the times of challenge and controversy." 

What does this quote mean to you and how can this quote from Dr. King be put into action to make our nation a better place for all citizens?

Answer: In the 1960s, these words became famous and important to the events of that decade and later decades. These words were part of a speech that shaped our history to make our world of today.  But these exact words came from a great American who fought for the rights that he deserved. This man delivered many speeches to fight for his beliefs and the rights of everyone. This man is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In the 1960s, a famous historic event happened. At that time, people were treated unfairly because of the color of their skin, not because of their personality. Dr. King grew up as an African American, so he was treated poorly. He wanted to change that.  He fought in the Civil Rights Movement, but he fought peacefully.  He put his life on the line.  He put other people before him.  He put his thoughts into words and changed history forever.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s quotation means many things. To me it means a certain, powerful, important thing. "The ultimate measure of a man" shows the real importance of a man.  The rest of the speech means that the real content of a man is seen by where he stands at the hard times rather than times that are easygoing for him.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. did many things that remind us of his speech.  Dr. King didn't stay home and let the world continue to treat people badly. But Dr. King stood up and faced times of challenge and controversy. He didn't stop, no matter what happened.  He was put in jail because of marches, but once he got out he continued peaceful marches.  People threatened to kill him or hurt him and his family, but he continued to do what was right. He was a real man.

This quotation can help Americans improve their lives now by doing what this quotation states.  People shouldn't stop fighting for their rights but should be persistent and try to reach their goals.  Bankruptcy happens to a lot of people, and this quotation tells them not to go home and give up but to try to earn money and do what they can to reach out of their financial difficulties.

People can learn many things from Dr. King's statement.  This quotation tells people to not back down and try their best to solve problems.  If something hits you, bounce back up and don't go down to challenges and try to run away to get comfort.  Crimes, bankruptcy, war, and violence affect lots of people, but Dr. King tells us to try our best and not be pushed down but to stand up for what we believe in.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."   These famous words are an important part of the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.   Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered this speech and many others to craft a better civilization for everyone.  His beliefs were that everyone should be treated with equality.  People threatened others not because of the content of their character but because of mere skin coloring.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. thought this was wrong.  He organized boycotts and marches to protest.  He was sent to jail, threatened, beaten, and even had his house bombed.  But despite that, he fought for what he believed in.  Finally, he succeeded.  So a graceful protester changed the world forever. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great man who fought for everyone.