Dear Senior Memory Book,

            The town I currently live in, Monett, is where I grew up. I spent my first five or six years of my life living at my grandparents house on their ten acres outside of town. My grandparent’s house was a doublewide trailer with a playhouse, a trampoline, and a pool in the enclosed front yard. I spent my days playing in the yard pretending to be the action heroes I saw on the television.

Behind my grandparent’s trailer was my aunt’s house and behind that was my uncle’s workshop that was merely a singlewide trailer with tools and car parts on the floor. My uncle and other aunt lived behind the shop and I used to visit them almost everyday helping with the chores and talking with them.

Back then the pond behind their house was always full of water and life. I would sit out on the edge of the water and listen to the frogs croak and the birds sing. The dragonflies would land on the lily pads just to be scooped up unexpectedly by a frog that was waiting in ambush. Many minutes of my young life were wasted trying to catch all of these creatures.

Dear Senior Memory Book,

             My fourth grade year was the only year I spent entirely in Chouteau Oklahoma. I cannot remember my fourth grade teacher’s name I only remember that she was a middle-aged woman who loved to teach. I remember that she liked to make origami and I can still remember some of the origami figures she taught us to make.

            I started my fifth grade year in Chouteau but moved back to Monett before the end of the first quarter. Mrs. Powers was my homeroom teacher. Her main subject was math but also taught us reading and writing. Science class with Mrs. Huntress was probably my favorite class. We learned about plants and animals in her class. For some reason we always did some math in our social studies class. Also we learned about our state and the Native Americans.

            Sixth grade year my homeroom teacher was Mrs. Rutherford, our reading teacher. After reading we went to science class and learned about earth sciences.

Communication arts class was next and the teacher sometimes brought her guitar into class. I don’t remember much about my geography class or the teacher, but I do remember winning the school wide geography bee. Hot topics was a math class where we learned how to problem solve with brain teasers and word problems. Mrs. Head was my math teacher and I don’t think many people liked her. She had a problem where she would constantly blink I found myself wondering how she moved around the room without tripping on something.

Dear Senior Memory Book,

            I can still remember my first day of kindergarten at Monett Elementary and how I was so nervous and afraid. I put my things in my cubby and went into the classroom. I cannot remember my teacher’s name but I do remember that I had a little crush on her.

            Some memories of my early years in elementary school are when two girls chanting the K-I-S-S-I-N-G song were chasing my girlfriend at the time and I during recess or playing computer games in my first grade class. I can still remember doing a project on hammerhead sharks in the third grade and learning songs to help me learn my multiplication tables. At recess I was always playing on the monkey bars and the jungle gyms. My early years of school were great and sometimes I wish I were still in elementary school with recess, naptime, and show and tell.

Dear Senior Memory Book,

            My earliest memory I think is I am riding in a car with my dad’s girlfriend at the time and we are going to pick up my birthday cake. At the party my grandma, my dad and his girlfriend, and some of their friends were there; after the party was over I went to bed in my racecar bed. I cannot remember if it is actually true or if it was a figment of my imagination.

            Another memory of mine was made in kindergarten. It was my turn for show and tell so I decided to ask my mom if I could show and tell my new baby sister. At the end of the day my mom brought my sister Amanda into class and I showed her off. I thought it was so cool that I showed my baby sister and everyone seemed to enjoy having a baby in the room.

Dear Senior Memory Book,

            My mom was born January 11, 1977 as Margaretta C. Armstrong and grew up in the St. Louis area with her mother, father, and brothers. She is my grandparent’s only daughter and she is the second youngest out of her siblings. Her childhood was spent in and out of foster care and she spent much of her teen years as a rebel and dropped out of school. She met my father when she was in her late teens.

            November 22, 1970 was the day my father was born and his name is Daniel Paul Skipper II; he grew up in Oklahoma in a town near Pryor. My grandma, Linda, and her husband, at the time, raised him and his younger sister Tracy. He has always been interested in cars and working on them. His mom moved to Monett and got married and he met my mom when he was staying at my grandma and grandpas house.

Dear Senior Memory Book,

            My name is Corry Seandale Skipper. My mom and dad are to blame for my odd middle name. Sean came from my mom, because she is a big fan of Sean Connery so she wanted me to be named after him and my dad wanted to name me Dale after my great grandfather Odell. They decided to put the names together and have my middle name be Seandale.

            I have lived in the country nearly my whole life; I prefer living in the country, because it is quieter, calmer, there is less drama, and it smells better. My house is about a mile off of Z highway. I share a roughly five-acre plot of land with my grandma, uncle, and aunt.

            I don’t have many life goals, but my main goal is to be happy. If I am going to get anywhere in life I am going to have to work hard. I want to have a good paying job that I actually enjoy. My dream is the American dream, a house that I own, land, a wife, kids, and a big dog.

            I think I’m an average looking person. My height is about 5 foot 9 inches, I am skinny, and I look the best when my hair is long. Growing up, I have always been shorter and smaller than my peers. According to my BMI I am underweight, but no matter what I do I can’t gain weight because of my high metabolism.

            I am a proud member of my local FFA chapter. Also I am a member of my high school yearbook staff and I wrestle. Currently I have my Chapter Degree in FFA and I am one of the top 10 members. Taking pictures and working as a team is fun so I decided to join the yearbook staff this year and so far it seems to be going good. For four years I have wrestled and I have won two bronze metals, three or four silver metals, and one gold metal.

Hello who ever it may concern. My name is Corry Skipper and I am currently a senior at Monett High School. For my final English credit I am taking English IV. This year in English IV I would like to learn how to help myself prepare for my future, but I am still unsure about college.

Learning by example and with hands on activities seems to be the best ways of learning for me. I enjoy reading and working with others. As a writer I do not believe I am very talented, but I am interested in learning how to improve my skills. The only problem is that I am not sure where I need to start.

I highly doubt it, but if I become a problem in this class I think I would need to be told what I am doing wrong and then action should be taken. Also if I am being a distraction or if I am being too talkative I think I should be taken out of the situation and moved to another seat, but I do not think I will be too much of a bother.